You're Not as Lonely as You Think You Are (I'm Trying to Tell You)
by RocketRaccoon15
Summary: High School AU: She wanted freedom. He wanted to be loved. They both wanted to escape their abusive father figures.
1. Welcome to SHIELD Academy

It came to him in flashes - the night of his mother's death. He wouldn't take her hand. _Goddammit! Why wouldn't he take her hand?_ He wouldn't. He _couldn't._ He ran outside after her heart monitor flatlined. He ran until he fell to his knees. Then, that big, blue bastard abducted him. That bastard threatened to eat him. Threat, after threat, after threat. He finally decided it was his chance to escape. He hijacked an M-Ship, that he deemed to be the Milano (after Alyssa Milano, of course!), painted it orange and blue, and took off like a bat out of hell. He landed the ship on what should've been his grandpa's farm...but it was gone. He was so excited to go home, but it was _all_ gone. He didn't know what to do, so he did the only thing he really knew how to do...

That's right! Petty theft - and gone wrong, too. Not even an hour later, he was caught and thrown into a temporary cell at the local police station. He sat in that damn cell, bowing his head like a scolded puppy, knowing how disappointed his mother would be in him. Little did he know, what happened next, would change his life forever.

"Peter Jason Quill." A dark-skinned man's deep voice echoed throughout the abandoned police station, making his way towards the cell. He stopped in front of it with his hands behind his back and an expressionless face that scared the boy shitless. He looked up at the man, noticing a black eyepatch over his left eye. "How old are you, son?" He asked without emotion.

"Four...four...four..." Peter stuttered.

The dark man put his hands on his hips, looking down on him in disbelief. "You're four? You sure act like yo' four, stealing stuff that ain't yours."

"...Teen." Peter whispered, turning his attention back towards the ground.

"You better stop the damn pouting!" As if on command, a police officer walked in with a set of keys and unlocked the cell. He left as soon as it was opened, leaving the young teen alone with the intimidating man.

The man turned his attention back to Peter. "You know kids don't get locked up like this for petty theft, right?" The young teen's stare remained at the floor. "They said they chased you down to an alleyway. Found an - how did they put it? 'Alien weapon'? Like the ones from Star Wars they said." Peter still didn't look up, despite understanding the reference being made. "I wanna know where you got it. Cause' down here, on Earth, we don't have weapons like that. Explain yourself, now."

"Not until you tell me who you are and what you want from me." The young teen demanded, glancing up at the man, who had just scoffed at his remark.

"Nick Fury. Director of S.H.I.E.L.D."

* * *

 _ **Two Years Later...**_

 _Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga_

 _Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga_

 _Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga_

 _Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga_

 _Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga_

"Dammit..." The sixteen year-old moans as the alarm on his phone went off. He feels the top of his nightstand, searching for it. The boy smacks it when he finds it, managing to hit the snooze button. He grabs the pillow from beneath him and pulls it over his head, falling back asleep.

 _IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII'M_

The loud intro from the chorus scares him awake, causing him to fall off of his bed. "Okay-" He whispers to himself. "I'm up."

It was the first day back from summer break (or what was considered summer break, given the fact that he was stuck at the academy all summer), which meant there would be an assembly, introducing all of the new students. S.H.I.E.L.D Academy was well-known for taking in special, troubled and even homeless kids, giving them a second chance at a better life. The school teaches discipline as well as regular education. Some students stick around after they graduate and join S.H.I.E.L.D. They even have agent training programs for electives where students can go on missions. For most students, it felt like a dream come true. For Peter, however, it was just another boring school day.

The students were to meet in the amphitheater near the courtyard. Like most amphitheaters, it was arched like a dome with a stone stage closing the circle. It was built into the summit of a hill, surrounded by grass and trees. The stage is covered in 'welcome back' banners, and streamers and balloons of the school's colors, black and silver. By the time Peter gets there, most of the stone bleachers are already occupied. He scopes out an empty section of the amphitheater and takes a seat.

Although he was friendly, lead quarterback on the football team, and captain of the academy's finest acapella choir, he didn't really have any quote-on-quote 'friends'. Most of the time, he would sit by himself like he usually did as a young child. And sure, he would go on dates and have fun with girls, but he never really felt a bond with any of them. To be completely honest, he was lonely most of the time. All _alone_.

"Welcome back, students of S.H.I.E.L.D Academy," Nick Fury's loud, booming voice broke Peter from his thoughts, turning his attention to the speaker. "To another year of learning and memories. Just like every year, we welcome new students of all races and of all species to our school. We welcome _gifted_ students. _Troubled_ students. We give them all a second chance. And just like previous years, we will formally introduce our newest students to the entire student body." _Applause._ Everyone claps, with the exception of Peter. However, he did flinch when the student, who goes by the name of Tony Stark, started whooping at the top of his lungs from behind him.

"Come on, Quill! It's the first day back, loosen up a bit!" With that Tony starts hollering again, causing Peter to turn back around.

The applause grows once the new students enter the stage. Four of the five stuck out like a sore thumb. It was obvious they weren't from Earth. The one who stuck out the most to Peter is an athletically built, yet skinny girl with gorgeous, emerald green skin. She has ringlets of ebony hair that gradually turned to a dark red at the tips. The rays of the sun causes the girl's dark doe eyes to shimmer. She is absolutely gorgeous to Peter and he feels his heart gradually beating faster.

Fury gestures for the first student to step forward. It's another girl, yet not the one Peter's focusing his attention on. This one has straight, platinum blonde hair and blue eyes as deep as the sea. A black headband rests upon her head, separating her bangs from the rest of her hair. "This is Gwen." The girl gives the students a crooked smile and waves as they all applaud her.

As Gwen steps back, Fury gestures for the next student to step forward. He's taller and more muscular than Peter, appearing to be alien from the light grey color of his skin. "Drax." _More applause._ The next one looks to be a raccoon, except taller and possibly more advanced. "Rocket." And the next, _a walking tree?_ "Groot." _Even more applause._ "And last, but not least-"

She finally steps forward and Peter can see her better. He notices that her hair is half up in a topknot. She's clad in a grey, long-sleeved shirt that was meant to be a crop top, but fit to barely cover her belly button. The sleeves are slightly too long and slide past her black short-shorts once she places her hands to her sides. Peter continues to scan her, noticing every detail of her figure, including the fact that her white high-tops didn't have a speck of dirt on them.

"Gamora." Peter whispers subconsciously, after Fury introduces her.

As soon as the assembly ends, Peter makes his way towards the stage, where he finds her grabbing her white and navy, polka-dotted messenger bag and heading towards the direction of the school.

"Hey!" Peter calls after her. She turns to him, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "I'm Peter." He holds out his hand to give her a handshake, but draws his hand back awkwardly when she stares at it, blankly. "You're Gamora, right?" She glares at him. "Right, dumb question."

The young teen, who appears to be almost a foot shorter than him, rolls her eyes and begins to walk away.

"Wait, wait!" He catches up to her, before he trips over a rock and face-plants into the grass. Peter looks up, noticing the girl's green lips starting to twitch up. Using his hands, he pops himself off the ground and brushes his hands off on his pants. "So, what classes are you in?" The small smirk falls as she starts to walk away once again.

"I don't know, yet. I haven't met with my counselor." She explains, flatly.

"Oh, well I can show you where the guidance office is-" Peter walks straight into a pole. He rubs his forehead as if it would make the pain go away. "Ow."

"How can you show me where guidance is if you can't even walk five feet without hurting yourself?"

"Good point, but I can still-"

"I can manage myself." With a pivot on her foot, she starts to walk in the opposite direction, leaving Peter with his jaw open to the ground.

* * *

"The requirement is that you have to join some sort of club or after school activity. All students had to go through this at one point." Maria Hill, the guidance counselor, explains to Gamora as they plan her schedule for the year.

"I don't understand why it's required." Gamora sits back in her chair, flustered.

"It's required because we don't want any students feeling out of place." The young teen takes a deep breath and stares at her lap. "I'll make a deal with you. You don't have to decide this very moment, but I expect an answer by the end of next week or else, I'll have to assign you to a random group."

"Okay." Her voice is barely above a whisper.

Hill gives her a soft smile as she prints out a piece of paper and hands it to Gamora, along with a yellow envelope. "Here is your schedule. Your dorm room number, key, student handbook, and ID are all in this envelope. Any questions before I send you off with your guide?" Gamora shakes her head lightly. "Good! Then, I will see you sometime by next week!" The emerald-skinned girl mouths a 'thank you' as she exits the office.

As she closes the door behind her, Gamora is face-to-face with none other than Peter Jason Quill. She sighs and rolls her eyes. "You again?"

"Happy to see you, too." He mutters under his breath. "God, why are you so crabby?"

"I'm not crabby." She folds her arms in front of her chest and glares at him.

"Listen, I don't know what your deal is, but I've been more than nice to you. Why are you treating me like shit?"

"I don't know, why are you being so nice to me?" She counters, starting to turn a darker shade of green.

"What do you mean, ' _why am I being so nice to you_ '? Have you ever thought that maybe I saw you alone and thought, _'hey, maybe she doesn't have any friends'_?"

Gamora curls into herself a little more, feeling ashamed. "No, I didn't. I'm sorry." She sits herself on top of a brick fence.

Peter notices how small she looks and feels a sense of guilt. He takes a seat next to her and clears his throat. "Well, it's all good cause' I'm gonna be honest with ya', I don't have any friends either." They both sit there for a moment in silence.

"For someone who seems to be very friendly, I'm surprised you don't."

"Well, I mean, I guess I have friends. I just haven't found my 'squad' yet, ya know? I mean you have the Avengers, and then the Spiders...then, there's me. I don't fit in with any of em'."

"I know how it feels to not belong anywhere. That's one of the reasons why-" Peter looks at her in curiosity, waiting for her to finish. When she doesn't, he goes to speak up, only to get interrupted by her. "You're my guide," She says flatly, sliding off the fence. "Aren't you supposed to guide me?"


	2. An Unorthodox Bond

Every inch of the campus is beautiful. There isn't a place you step where it's ugly or out of line. For most of the day, Peter has to skip his classes, showing Gamora around to hers. They begin to form a strange and unlikely, yet unique bond unlike any other they've ever experienced. However, neither will necessarily confess to it being the beginning of a friendship.

Around noon is their lunch period and they make their way to the cafeteria. There is only one and it is located inside the science and technology building where most of the classes are held. After standing in a crowded lunch line for what felt like forever, the two grab their trays full of food and head outside to find a table to sit at.

"You're missing an extracurricular activity on here." Peter states, studying Gamora's schedule with one hand, while balancing his tray of food in the other.

"Yeah. Hill isn't giving me a choice. She said it's _'required'_." The Zen-Whoberian girl replies, unenthusiastically.

"Well, it's a requirement for everyone, so you're not alone."

All of the tables are filled to the max with the exception of two: one is completely empty, while the other occupies three of the other four new students. Peter scrunches his face up in thought, wondering if it would be better to sit at the empty table or the table filled with unfriendly faces. After a few moments, he makes up his mind and guides Gamora to the empty table, glancing at the odd-looking students as he passes by.

It's a dark brown, wooden picnic table and sits beneath a large maple tree, covering it in shade. It lays right at the edge of the paved courtyard, near the freshly-cut, green grass.

As they take their seats across from one another, Gamora can hear the music playing from the earbuds dangling out of the collar of Peter's shirt. She stares at them subconsciously, recognizing the tune, but not the name.

" _I Want You Back. Jackson Five. 1969._ " Peter states, realizing why she was staring so intently at his neck.

"Right."

"You like music?" He asks, watching as Gamora takes a bite of her large slice of veggie pizza.

She glances up at him, pulling the pizza away from her teeth and placing it back on the paper plate. "Yeah. I guess." She says with a small shrug after chewing.

A light-bulb goes off in the teenager's head as he drops the crust of his pizza on his plate, holding his hands up almost in defense. He snaps his fingers and points them at Gamora. "BINGO!" He shouts with a mouth full of food. "That could be your extracurricular activity!"

Gamora raises an eyebrow in confusion. "Music?"

"Yeah! Think about it!"

"Peter, I'm not a musician. I mean I like music, but I'm not involved with it in _any_ way."

"Okay, look. Here's the thing. I'm the leader of our school acapella choir. We only have seven members - literally just picked up Stark for some odd reason. My point is, our group is small and we're pretty sick, but because of how small the group is, Fury is on the edge about funding it. The only reason it's still up and running is because Coulson is sponsoring us. The only way we're gonna be able to keep the choir is if at _least_ eight people are in it. I need an eighth person. You need an extracurricular activity by next week - boom! Killing two birds with one stone."

Gamora nibbles on her nail in thought. "I don't know, Peter. I'm not a performer."

"That's okay!" The Terran boy perks up excitedly. "I can teach you all I know!"

"I just-" She looks up at Peter - at the look in his pleading, hazel eyes. He has so much hope for her. She can't tell if Peter is being selfish in wanting her to join or serious in thinking she could pull off something so out of character for her. "If it'll get Hill off my ass, then fine." The boy's eyes got big and bright. "But, I'm not making any promises that I'll stay. Like I said," She crosses her arms in front of her. "I'm not a performer." They sit there in silence for a moment as Peter nods. Gamora gazes to the side of him, noticing a group of girls pointing at her and whispering. Peter follows her line of sight and notices the group. She sighs deeply before standing up with her tray. "I'll be right back. I'm going to put this away."

"Okay." He mutters, watching sympathetically as she leaves. The girls start giggling as she walks past them, causing her to turn a darker shade of green. Peter stands up and walks over to them, unaware that he is until he reaches the group of giggling girls. "Whatcha laughin' at?"

"Nothing, Peter," A short, brunette giggles. "It's just rumor has it that she's an assassin. People are saying she's murdered people in cold blood without mercy. We're just laughing because she thinks she can just run away to our planet and ask for a second chance in life. Sorry you were chosen to be her guide."

Peter glances back at Gamora who is making her way back towards their table. "I think you have the wrong person. She isn't like that." He may have only known her for a few hours, but she was the last person he'd have thought to do something so horrible. He pivots on his foot and starts to head back towards their table when he witnesses it; the God of Mischief vanishes in front of Gamora with a tray full of food, spilling it all down the front of her shirt.

"Oh, my apologies. I swear I didn't mean to spill my food all over the body of a cold blooded killer." Loki states sarcastically, gesturing to Gamora's newly-stained clothes.

The emerald-skinned teenager stares at the ground, feeling she deserved what happened.

"Hey! God of Dipshit!" Peter calls from the other side of the courtyard. "Didn't your mom teach you that food is meant to be eaten?"

Loki smirks. "Peter Jason Quill."

"That's right." The Terran approaches him, getting up in his face. "Now, why don't you give her a real apology?"

The God of Mischief laughs. "I beg your pardon? You do know you're talking about a daughter of Thanos?"

"I'm sorry, the daughter of who-now?"

"Thanos. He's one of the most evil beings there is. He plans to annihilate half of the universe with a snap of his fingers. This one right here," Loki points an accusing finger at Gamora, who looks up at Peter in remorse. "She is his daughter."

Peter sees the guilt in Gamora's beautiful, brown eyes. Something about the way she walks, the way she talks, even the way she thinks - it makes him believe that there is more to the story. She's going to owe him one for what he's about to do:

The Terran boy nods his head and grabs a piece of pie off the table beside him. He glances down at it before tossing it in Loki's direction. The God of Mischief disappears, sending the pie flying at the table behind him. It hits a girl, Daisy, in the back. She turns around slowly and dangerously. Peter's eyes get huge as Daisy's friend, Fitz, turns around as well, bursting out into laughter. "FOOD FIGHT!" He shouts as food starts to be thrown around the courtyard.

Peter quickly grabs ahold of Gamora's wrist. "Let's go."

The girl rips her hand out of his grasp. "No."

"Gamora, I-" Before he can say another word, the Terran gets cut off by a smack from a walking tree, sending him flying across the courtyard.

"GROOT!" Shouts the raccoon, known as Rocket. "WHAT ARE YOU STANDING THERE FOR?! GRAB HIM AND LET'S GO!"

Gamora watches as Groot and Rocket start to run off with Peter. She goes to intervene until a musclebound teenager starts charging towards her with a battle cry.

"THANOS KILLED MY LOVER, HOVAT AND MY YOUNGER SIBLING, KAMARIA! YOU WILL PAY FOR THEIR DEATHS, DAUGHTER OF THANOS!" He shouts as she dodges his attack.

"HE'S NOT MY FATHER!" She yells back. The boy approaches her to the point she can feel him breathing heavily on her. "I want nothing to do with Thanos or any of his minions ever again."

"Do you know who I am?" Gamora doesn't respond. "I am Drax the Destroyer. I have slayed dozens of Thanos' minions to avenge their deaths. You are next."

"DUDE, LET GO!"

"GROOT! WOULD YA HURRY UP WITH THAT?!" Rocket yells at the walking tree, who is tying Peter's wrists together with a vine.

"I am Groot."

"AND I AM GONNA BEAT YOUR ASS IF YOU DON'T GET THE HELL OFF OF ME!"

"WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING ON AROUND HERE?!" Everyone freezes as a piece of pizza hits Nick Fury straight in the face. The man with the eye patch looks around. He sees Drax with a sharpened dagger pressed against Gamora's throat and Rocket and Groot sitting on top of Peter, trying to tie him up as he struggles to get out of their grasp.

* * *

"Fitz. Drax. Gamora. Groot. Rocket. Quill. Welcome to detention." Phil Coulson greets. "As much as I love to see groups of people getting together, detention is not my favorite meeting spot."

The skinniest boy in the class, pursuing to be an engineer, raises his hand. "Um, Coulson, sir. Why is this one still here? Didn't he try to kill someone?" He glances at Gamora, who is looking everywhere, but them.

"He is still here because I see good in him," Fury replies as he steps forward. "As I do the rest of you. All troubled kids, wanting a second chance at life. I'm willing to give you that."

Just like any other science classroom, it is filled with black lab tables and stools: two placed at each one. Located in the second story of the building, the walls are a lime green and has multiple large, arched windows on the left one. A wooden door with a large glass window occupies the right wall. Another black lab table sits in the front of the classroom whiteboard, connected to a brown desk. Fury walks behind it and continues his speech, "Now, with that being said, that does not mean yo' little asses are getting off the hook that easily. Your punishment: each one of you will do ten hours of community service by the end of this month."

"THE END OF THIS MONTH?!" Fitz exclaims, standing up from his stool. "THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! Plus, why isn't Loki here?! He's just as guilty as any of us were!"

"Loki is a special student. We have to use a different method of punishment for him." Coulson explains as he crosses his arms.

"As I was saying, community service includes, but is not limited to, going on small missions, cleaning parts of the campus, or tutoring."

"Dude, this is so unfair." Peter whispers to the only girl in the room. She rolls her eyes at him, crossing her arms on the table and lying her chin on them.

"As for right now, you will sit in this room for the rest of the school day and think about your actions." Fury finishes, pivoting on his foot and walking out of the classroom, closing the door behind him.

Coulson sits in the black, cushioned chair that sits behind the desk. He props his feet up on the surface and places his hands behind his head. "Looks like its just you and me for the next four hours." He says to the detention kids as everyone groans.

Peter glances at Gamora who is sitting at the table next to him. He shifts over to the stool beside him and leans into her. "Hey."

The green girl sits up and whips her head towards him. "What?"

"About what happened a lunch-"

"I don't want to talk about it." She whispers, turning back towards the front of the room and folding her arms over her chest.

"If we're gonna be friends, you might want to try trusting me a little bit."

Gamora is silent for a moment. She glances at him from the corner of her eye. "And how much do you trust me?"

"I'd trust you a lot more if you told me what happened back there. Because I'm guessing it's pretty important."

She finally looks at him. "It's true. I used to be an assassin. I used to work for Thanos. But I'm through with him. I'm not that girl anymore, yet everyone still sees me as a cold blooded killer." Gamora looks down at her hands, which are trembling slightly. "I deserve it all."

"Hey, don't say that." Peter reaches out a hand towards her. As it grazes her skin, she flinches and jerks away.

"Just drop it. Okay, Peter?" She looks at him pleadingly. He nods and clears his throat awkwardly.

"You know this kinda reminds me of the Breakfast Club." The Terran boy speaks up, breaking the silence in the room.

"This is detention. It is not a club for morning meals." Drax explains aloud, clearly not understanding the metaphorical term.

"No, that's not what it is."

"The Breakfast Club is a movie here on Earth. It's about a group of kids who spend their Saturday morning in detention." Fitz explains, turning around in his stool to face Drax.

"Why is it called a _'Breakfast Club'_ , if it is not a club serving breakfast?"

"It's just a metaphor, dude."

"His people are completely literal, metaphors are gonna go over his head." Rocket explains, sitting in his stool sideways.

"Nothing goes over my head. My reflexes are too fast. I would catch it."

"I am surrounded by the biggest idiots in the galaxy." Gamora states, clicking her tongue.

"Quiet down, guys! This is detention."


	3. Why Care For a Coldblooded Killer?

The final bell of the day finally rings, allowing the students to be relieved of detention. Gamora and Peter walk down the steps of the schoolyard and head towards the dormitories.

"Can I see the envelope with what house your in and that?" Peter asks, holding out a hand towards her. The girl walking beside him nods and stops in her tracks, pulling out the vanilla-colored envelope that Hill have to her. Peter grabs it from her and nods his head in thanks. He pulls out a packet that has the dormitory she's in, her room number and more information about where she will be staying. "Oh, sweet."

"What?" The former assassin asks, looking over Peter's shoulder to see the packet as well.

"You're in the Red House. That's the same dormitory I live in." He gives her a crooked smile and places the packet back in the envelope, giving it back to her.

"Oh." Is all she can say. She doesn't know what to say. They are becoming friends she thinks, but won't admit it aloud. She still doesn't trust him, but who can blame her? All her life, people have only let her down.

"This'll be fun! It'll be easier to give you vocal lessons, too." They start walking again.

"Yeah, I guess." She shrugs.

"You're still on edge about that, aren't you?" Peter asks, looking at Gamora with a mix of concern and hope.

"Like I said, Peter, I'm not a singer." She glances at him in her peripheral vision, trying to avoid fully facing him. She sighs. "I don't perform. I was raised to kill."

"That's why you're here, right?" She doesn't answer. "Listen, I know you said you don't want to talk about it, but-" She sighs again, shaking her head as if to reveal her true feelings. "You do?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean 'you don't know'? It's either you do or you don't."

"I guess, I do, but I don't know. It's not something I really enjoy talking about." They finally come upon the street full of dormitories. Both kids stop in unison in front of their dormitory.

All of the dormitories look the same. They are made of red bricks and have black roofs. The entrance of each dormitory is made of white panels. White windows occupy most of the space on each wall of the house. A wooden bench sits on the left side of each dormitory. Two white columns occupy each side of the front door. A stone pathway leads to the entrance with two rectangular fountains on either side.

"Have you ever talked to anyone about it?" Gamora hesitantly shakes her head. Peter lets out a sympathetic sigh, not wanting to ask any more questions that would make her uncomfortable. "If you want, and I mean you don't have to, there's a park behind the dormitory. We could head there after dinner if you want to talk." All she can do is nod. She lets out a small 'thank you' that is almost inaudible to hear. Peter gives her a small smile and leads her through the doors.

The entrance is plain and simple, with only a wooden bench, surrounded by two pots of pink bellflowers and a wooden chair with navy padding on the seat and back. The walls are white and the carpet is a dark blue.

"Come here. I'll show you where the girls' rooms are at." Peter says as he leads Gamora up the glass stairs in front of them. She follows him, holding onto the silver railing.

Although the walls are the same color as the level below them, the floor is now a plain, light wood. There are hallways on either side of them: one containing the boys' rooms and the other containing the girls' rooms. Every door is the same shade of turquoise. He leads her down the right hallway as they pass display cases full of various trophies and awards. Once Gamora notices them, she lags behind, studying each of the awards carefully. Peter almost reaches her room, when he notices her at the other end of the hall.

"What are these for?" Gamora asks as Peter approaches her slowly.

"Sometimes when one of us wins an award for something, we put em' in these cases. Each dormitory has a few on the second floor."

"Oh."

Peter can see the curiosity in her eyes; what would it be like to win an award? She probably has never won one, being an assassin for most of her life. He hopes one day that'll change and she'll be able to display an award of her own to the rest of the students. A small smile creeps onto his lips. "Don't you wanna meet your roommate?"

Gamora's eyes get wide with worry. "I have a roommate?"

* * *

"Natasha Romanoff." The girl with the straight, red hair introduces, standing up from the chair at her desk. A grey, stripped hoodie covers the top half of her body, while a pair of blue skinny jeans covers the bottom half. A pair of dark grey combat boots fits perfectly over each foot.

The room, much like the rest of the dormitory is simple. The walls and flooring are the same as the rest of the second floor. A white desk with three drawers on each side, and one in the middle, sits on the left side of the room, completed with a white chair with maroon cushioning. A single bed with a simple white frame lays on the opposite side of the door with perfectly folded, floral bedding that's a light pink. The front of the comforter is slightly folded over, revealing a white sheet and pillow beneath it. Next to the foot of the bed is a small white dresser with lavender drawers and a white laundry basket. An identical dresser sits on the back wall in front of a circular mirror filled with beaded necklaces, and between a wide window and the other side of the laundry basket. Against the left wall sits a loft bed with the same pink bedding and white frame, above a desk and chair identical to the one on the opposite wall. Various trophies of completed missions and singing competitions sits on top, along with a vanilla file folder filled with information about a mission that Natasha is clearly looking into.

She walks to the front of the room and holds out her hand to Gamora. "You can call me Nat, though."

The green girl studies it for a minute, before grabbing it and lightly shaking it. "Gamora." She introduces back.

"Nice to meet you." They share a soft smile, before Peter breaks the silence in the room.

"Do you have anything you need me to carry here or-"

"If you're talking about personal belongings, I don't have much. Everything I own is in this bag." She gestures to the polka-dotted messenger bag leaning against her hip, before taking it off and sitting it on her bed.

"Well," Nat starts off slowly. "We're gonna have to fix that."

"What do you mean?"

"You can't tell me you don't want to add your own little touch to your side of the room. Plus, three pairs of clothes that fit in your bag won't even last you a week."

"I don't have any currency for this planet."

Nat lightly chuckles, exchanging a smile with Peter. "At S.A., you don't need money. We have credits that we spend. You start off with two hundred and go from there." The lighthearted boy makes his way next to Gamora, digging into her bag and pulling out the envelope inside. He pulls out her I.D. and hands it to her. "You can use it like a debit card."

"That's nice, but how do you earn credits then?"

"Going on certain missions,-" Peter replies.

"Competing in competitions for the extra-curricular activities you're in,-" Nat adds on.

"The easiest way, though, is to get good grades in all your classes."

"Yeah. It's like a weekly thing. For C's, you get five credits, B's, you get ten, and A's, you get twenty."

"That seems very simple." Gamora thinks aloud.

"Everything at the campus stores are pretty cheap, too."

"Is this Gamora?!" A girl with dark skin and long, ebony hair asks excitedly in an isiXhosa accent as she enters the room.

The green girl raises a brow in confusion. She doesn't understand why anyone would care for an assassin, let alone be excited to meet her.

"Sorry, I should introduce myself. I am Shuri." Just as Nat did, the younger girl holds out her hand for Gamora to shake. As the girl accepts her handshake, a large smile makes its way upon Shuri's face.

"So, what do you say? Shopping trip tomorrow?" Nat asks, glancing around at everyone in the room and ending on Gamora.

"I-I don't know."

"Just think about it. I promise, it'll be fun."

* * *

After dinner, Peter and Gamora head to a park that is located a block behind their dorm. Neither of them speak a word: the only sound coming from Peter's phone as it quietly plays the melody of _'Moonlight Daydream'_. The scenery is beautiful. Sidewalks, looking almost brand new, sit beside the road-barely any marks to be seen. Trails of tall oak trees and flowers of various colors fill the grassy area around them. Small, circular floor lights, light up their path every few feet.

The park is fairly small, fenced in with a playground and a single wooden bench inside. A large welcome sign sits in front of the entrance surrounded by beds of marigolds and bellflowers.

As they enter the park, Peter immediately heads for the swings. There are only two hanging from the wooden frame that is as blue as the sky. He sits down on the left swing and kicks his feet in the air, flattening his body to push himself forward.

Gamora hesitantly follows him, standing in front of the swing beside his.

"Come on," Peter says enthusiastically. "It's really relaxing."

"These are meant for children." Gamora counters, rubbing her arm awkwardly.

The boy in front of her stops his swing, looking at her with his eyebrow raised. "Since when?" Gamora doesn't respond. "There's never been an age limit for swinging."

The Zen-Whoberian sighs and takes a seat next to him. Neither of them go any higher than rocking their swings back and forth with their legs.

"So," Peter says after a moment of silence. "This Thanos dude...he's your-"

"He's not my father." Gamora interrupts, turning her head to face Peter. "When Thanos took my home world, he killed my parents in front of me. He tortured me, turned me into a weapon. I couldn't stand it anymore. I tried to escape Thanos, going on a mission for him. I was accompanied by a group of Sakaaran soldiers and I had to-" Peter nods, as Gamora chokes up, turning her head away from him. "All I knew was I had to get as far away from him as possible and I ended up landing on Earth.

"S.H.I.E.L.D investigated my ship when I landed, and Fitz tased me out of fear. When I woke up, Fury told me that he found out who I was and wanted to give me a second chance at life."

Peter hasn't taken his eyes off of her since she started talking. "Yeah. Fury acts like an asshole at times, but he honestly cares about everyone."

"I don't understand how anyone could ever care about me." She looks so vulnerable, stopping the swing completely and hugging both of her elbows as if to hold herself together. When Peter met her earlier that day, she looked invincible and almost as if nothing could phase her. Now, she looks like a little kid: lost and alone.

And he doesn't know why, but he feels that for once in his life, he's finally met someone who understands him. He knows what it's like to watch one of his parents die in front of him. Maybe she wasn't murdered, but it felt just as painful. He also knows what it's like to be forced to become someone you're not. Yondu didn't necessarily 'torture' him, but he forced Peter to do things he didn't want to do.

Seeing the girl looking so small makes Peter's heart break. She feels guilty for her sins and believes that she doesn't deserve a second chance. To be honest, Peter doesn't know what makes his heart break more: her life story or the fact that she doesn't understand why people care about her.

After a moment of thinking to himself, the Terran boy takes a deep breath before speaking, "You're still just a kid, Gamora. Just like me. We make mistakes and we do stupid shit all the time." Gamora finally finds it in herself to tilt her head up and look at him. "Uh-not that obeying Thanos was stupid by any means. You didn't really have a choice-" The shorter teen beside him sighs and closes her eyes, before opening them back up to focus on him. "Look, what I'm trying to say is; everything that you did for Thanos, everything he made you do-that isn't something you could've controlled."

"How can you possibly know that?" It comes out softly-almost inaudible.

Peter takes a deep breath. "Well for one, I know what it's like to have an abusive father figure."

Gamora raises an eyebrow, but doesn't say anything in fear of making the boy talk about something he's uncomfortable with. Instead, she just sighs and shakes her head. "I don't know why I told you any of this. I just met you and-"

"From what it sounds like, you lived most of your life having no one to talk to about your problems. I know how it feels."

* * *

It's finally pitch black out, the only lights coming from the stars and the lampposts nearby. They lose track of time; it could've been hours they sat there, sitting on the swings and watching the shining lights in the black sky twinkle in the night. It's silent once again, with the exception of music still softly playing from Peter's phone and quiet chirps from crickets.

Peter turns his head to study Gamora as she gazes at the stars as if they were the only thing in existence. She's no longer in her food-stained top. Instead, she's wearing one of Nat's plain, grey hoodies that seems to fit her perfectly. Light is reflected from the stars onto the silver scars that cover parts of her face. Peter can't help himself, but to stare; _she's so beautiful_.

"The music you listen to is different from what the other students here listen to." Gamora's voice makes him jump. His face turns red when she whips her head around to face him. "Why is that?"

"Uh, my mom. She gave this thing called a Walkman." He notices her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "It plays music. Anyways, she liked to share with me all the pop songs that she loved growing up. And it was just something that I happened to have on me when I was...the day that she...well, when I left Earth for those few years." Peter gets off the swing and walks over to the playground house, pulling himself onto the top and sitting down.

Gamora stands up and slowly follows him in curiosity. "What did it do?"

"Do?" He repeats, wrapping his arms around the bar above him. "Nothing. You listened to it." Peter unravels his arms from the bar and hops down, landing in front of Gamora. He straightens himself up, realizing once again, how much taller he actually is than her. "Or, ya' know, you could dance."

"I was trained to be a warrior and an assassin, I do not _dance._ "

Peter smirks a little. "Oh, really? Cause' on your schedule, I noticed ballet was your seventh period class."

"I was told ballet uses good techniques for balance and agility."

"Uh-huh." Peter says, not believing a word she said. "Well, either way, here on Earth, there's a legend about people like you. It's called "Footloose." And in it, a great hero named Kevin Bacon, teaches an entire city full of people with sticks up their butts that dancing, well...it's the greatest thing there is." The shorter teen gazes up at him in fascination.

"Who puts the sticks up their butts?"

Peter chuckles lightly. " What? No, that's just a-"

"That is cruel."

"It's just a phrase people use here." The boy turns the volume up a little on his phone as it starts playing _'Fooled Around and Fell in Love'_ and sits it down on the edge of the playground house, standing face-to-face with Gamora again.

She smiles softly, swaying subconsciously to the melody. "The melody is pleasant." Peter nods in agreement.

Thinking it could go somewhere, Peter reaches for her hand. He is so close to her; their lips are merely centimeters apart. As his the skin on his hand grazes hers, she jumps back and slaps him. "OW! WHAT THE HELL?!"

The former assassin immediately regrets her action, but doesn't show it, looking at the ground with an expressionless face. "I think it's time we head back." She mutters, pivoting on her foot. Peter watches as she walks away, confused as ever.


	4. Girls (And Peter) Just Wanna Have Fun

The staccato chirps of the morning birds is loud enough to wake Gamora up. The sun is still rising on the horizon, setting off rays of yellow, orange, and even purple into the sky and across the land. It's no later than five in the morning and Nat is already out of bed, presumably downstairs in the kitchen.

Gamora's downturned eyes slowly flutter open. Her arms and legs extend as far as they can as she stretches. A small yawn escapes her mouth as she sits up and throws her legs to the side of the bed, placing her bare feet on the cold, wooden floor. She stands up and sleepily walks to the door.

As she turns the door handle and pulls it open, she's greeted by a familiar face of whom she wishes was not there.

"Hey,-" Peter greets, running a hand awkwardly through his messy, dirty blonde hair.

"How long have you been standing there?" Gamora asks in shock, opening the door slightly more so he can enter the room.

"About an hour." Before the emerald-skinned girl can speak, Peter continues to talk, "Listen, about last night-"

"I know. I apologize for that. I should not have slapped you." Gamora interrupts, unable to look him in the eye.

"No, no, no. You have...every right to have done that. What I did was really stupid and I'm sorry." Gamora is in shock again, trying to process what he just said.

"It's fine-" She shrugs, rubbing her arm awkwardly. "It was probably-"

"Just the heat of the moment-"

"Yeah, probably-"

The two stand there, rubbing their arms and avoiding eye contact. They both jump when the door opens, revealing Nat's pale complexion and red hair.

"Woah! Am I-I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Nat asks, defensively. Peter and Gamora give each other a look before shaking their heads in unison. "Okay, then...anyways, Gamora-you wanna go shopping or-"

The Zen-Whoberian turns her head towards Peter as if asking him if he'd come with. "Uh, alright...would Peter be able to join us?"

Nat shifts her eyes between the two in confusion. She smirks a bit, seeing something between them. A sigh escapes her mouth as she shrugs. "I can't see why it'd be a problem."

"Sweet!" Peter exclaims as he clasps his hands together and rubs them, creating the sound of sandpaper. "When are we leaving?"

"Well it's a Tuesday, which means-"

"We can't go until after extracurricular activities." Peter finishes with a nod.

"We have choir after school, you could meet us in front of the performing arts building around five-ish?" It's more of a question than a statement.

Before Gamora can speak, Peter interrupts her once again. "Here's the thing, Nat. I think we have a new member." A soft smile crawls upon his face as he glances at Gamora.

"I told Peter I would try."

Nat smiles as well. "Trust me, you'll love it." Suddenly, her eyes get wide. "Oh, shit! I forgot about my eggs!" She runs out the door and down the stairs, Peter and Gamora trailing behind.

"Nat, you forgot about your eggs again." A boy, slightly more muscular and taller than Peter says with a light chuckle.

Nat sighs, rolling her eyes as she enters the kitchen and approaches a plate of scrambled eggs behind a mahogany breakfast bar with a black, marbled countertop where Shuri and a few other kids were seated at. The boy snakes his arms around her abdomen and plants a quick kiss to her cheek.

"Ew, get a room." Another boy, who is slightly shorter and less muscular than Peter, jokes with a scrunched up face.

"Leave them alone!" Shuri exclaims with a small giggle, after taking a bite of her cereal. "Let them be happy!"

The boy behind Nat is now holding her with one arm as she relaxes into his chest from the side. Nat playfully rolls her eyes at him.

Gamora slowly walks in behind Peter, watching how close the students are.

"Oh! I haven't introduced you to everyone!" Peter exclaims, gesturing for her to stand next to him. She does as she's told and stiffens when Peter clears his throat to gain everyone's attention. "Mornin' everyone! Just wanted to personally introduce you all to Gamora." The students greet her in unison.

Peter points to the boy holding Nat. "This is Steve. Also known as, Nat's boy-toy." Steve raises his free hand as Nat rolls her eyes playfully at Peter's remark. He points to the boy sitting next to Shuri. "This is Peter. Parker."

"Oh, no. There's two of you?" Gamora questions rhetorically with a slight humor to her voice.

The kids chuckle wholeheartedly as Peter continues on. "Of course, you met Shuri." She grins at the Zen-Whoberian as Peter mentions her name. He points to the boy sitting on the other side of her, who has the same shade of skin. "This is T'Challa, Shuri's brother."

"It is a pleasure to meet you." The Wakandan boy says in the same accent as Shuri.

Peter whips his head around when he hears someone walking down the stairs. It's a girl, similar in appearance to Nat, with the exception that she has curly, light brown hair and hazel eyes. Her nose is dug into a binder of sheet music with 'SHIELD Academy Acapella Choir' engraved on the cover.

"Wanda!" Peter calls out to her. She turns his head towards him, closing her binder. "Come here!" She does as she's told and stops in front of him and the emerald-skinned girl beside him. "Wanda-Gamora. Gamora-Wanda."

Wanda holds out her hand, just as Nat and Shuri did, and shakes Gamora's. "It's nice to meet you." She greets in a slight Slovakian accent.

* * *

It's finally three o'clock in the afternoon. The school day flies by in a breeze, unlike yesterday. Throughout that time, Peter walks Gamora to her classes to be sure she won't get lost, even though she keeps assuring him that she'll be fine. They also sit together at lunch again without a hassle.

Peter sits on a wooden bench next to the entrance of the dance studio, waiting for Gamora to change out of her leotard and ballet flats. She returns moments later in the same stain-free outfit she wore on her first day. Her hair is still pulled up in a messy bun with small pieces of hair framing her face. The Terran boy gazes at her for a moment, taking in her beauty.

"Peter!" The boy blinks in confusion. "Let's go." She had already crossed the hall to the set of wide, glass stairs in front of them.

"Yup! Yeah. Sorry." The words come out in bursts as he runs a hand through his hair, following Gamora.

When they reach the bottom, Peter guides Gamora to the choir room doors that sit behind the second staircase. Peter pulls out a key from his pocket and places it in the lock.

"Where is everyone?" Gamora asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Choir doesn't start until four, but I figured it'd be helpful to give you a quick lesson before everyone gets here." He turns the key, pushing the doors open and causing a loud creak to echo throughout the room. Gamora walks into the dark room in curiosity. When the lights come on, she starts to blink, adjusting her eyes to the brightness.

The room is smaller than she expects. Thirteen wooden, school chairs sit in two rows on a platform, with five more in a row in front of them on the floor. A black music stand sits directly in front of them, holding a binder of sheet music identical to the one Wanda was carrying earlier. A black, grand piano sits on one side of the music stand, while an acoustic guitar sits on the other.

Gamora looks to the side of her, noticing a white table filled with trophies and awards. She studies each one carefully as Peter stands behind her. "Your choir...won all of these?"

A proud smile makes its way to Peter's face. "Yup! Thirteen more than the band nerds!"

The Zen-Whoberian turns to him in confusion. "It seems that there is a rivalry between the band students and the choir students."

"Very much so!"

"I don't understand. Why a rivalry when both clubs want to acquire the same goal, in two completely different ways?"

"It's always been a thing _long_ before I even enrolled here." He pauses. "I think it's because Fury favorites the band instead of the choir, even though the choir has won more awards and is more popular among the student body."

"If it's so popular among the student body, why haven't more people joined?"

"Not everyone likes to sing in front of people."

"Yet, here I am?"

"Nevermind, the point is-most of the band kids are jerks, especially their leader."

Gamora raises an eyebrow in curiosity. "Who's their leader?"

"Thor Odinson. He's also captain of the football team and he's a magnet to girls."

"Does that explain why you don't have a girlfriend?" Gamora teases with a slight smirk, crossing her arms over her chest.

Peter gets red. "No!" He snaps, unaware that he does, until he sees Gamora's smirk fade. "No. I just-haven't found the right girl."

"It seems like a lot of girls like you." She looks almost _sad_?

"I mean I've been on a lot of dates, but that doesn't mean I found the right one." He explains, hoping that the small frown on her face would fade. "Okay, enough about my frickin' love life. Let's focus on what we're really here for."

They walk to the piano as Peter pulls out his choir binder. After flipping through a few pages, he sits it on the piano's music stand to where both, he and Gamora, can see it. "Okay. Let's start with the basics-reading music is probably the most important part of this group. We pretty much read music like a book." He pulls out another choir binder from his backpack. "This is basically your ' _textbook_ ' for choir." Peter pats the cover, before handing it to Gamora. After she sets it on top of the piano, Peter points to a set of five lines on the paper. "These are called staffs. They tell you where each note is." He points to a large symbol that takes up the entirety of the beginning of the lines. "This is called a clef; it basically tells you which note is on a line or a space. Now, there are two basic types of clefs: bass and treble-"

* * *

 _ **Forty-Five Minutes Later...**_

"Okay, I know you're probably not really comfortable singing by yourself right now, but is it okay if you just sing some stuff real quick, so I can figure out which section to place you in?" Gamora looks at him as if he's grown a second head. "There are sections for singing: alto, soprano, and mezzo-soprano. There's also baritone, tenor and bass, but those are for guys. Anyways, to put this in the simplest way possible, altos sing the lowest notes, sopranos sing the highest notes, and mezzo-soprano pretty much sings both."

"That makes sense." She nods her head with a sigh. "If it's completely necessary, I'll do it."

The corners of Peter's lips twitch up as he flips through the pages of music in his binder. "Okay, before we jump right into the actual music, remember what I was telling you about solfege?"

" _Dough-Ray-Me_?"

"Kinda." He confirms with a small chuckle. The piano makes a sound that echoes throughout the room as Peter presses down the keys of a C major chord. After the sound dissipates, he presses on the middle C key and ascends up the keys, ending on the next C. "Repeat after me," His thumb makes its way back to the middle C and presses down on it. "Do." He sings in unison with the piano.

"Do." Gamora's voice cracks for a second as she tries to match pitch with Peter and the piano.

"There ya' go!" Peter exclaims, pressing down the next key. "Re."

They slowly continue up the scale, both in shock of how well the other can sing. A soft smile creeps upon both of their faces as they finish. "Not bad!" Gamora looks away as her face turns a darker shade of green. Peter gazes at her for a moment before clearing his throat and turning his attention back to the sheet music in front of him. "Um, do you know this song?" The Zen-Whoberian stares blankly at the sheet music in front of them. "Gamora? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" She snaps, meeting his eyes with frustration in her own.

"Doesn't sound like it."

"I SAID I'M FINE!"

"Okay, listen, I would believe you if it weren't for the fact that you're getting pissed FOR NO REASON!"

Gamora turns away from him. She curls into herself like she did the previous night. "I'm not pissed." It's barely audible and if it weren't for him being so close to her, he might've missed it. "I just-"

"What?"

"I can't read in your language." Embarrassment floods her as she slowly turns back towards Peter.

"That's okay." Peter's concerned eyes meet hers. "I can teach you that, too."

"I still don't understand! You just met me yesterday and you treat me as if we've known each other for years."

"Like I said before, I saw you alone and figured you wanted a friend." Gamora nods at him before staring intently back at the music. " _'Make My Dreams Come True'_ , Hall & Oates?"

"Sounds familiar."

Peter pulls out his phone and starts playing the song aloud. Gamora lets out a small 'oh' and nods her head. After the song stops playing, Peter notices it's almost four. "Shit."

"What?"

"It's almost four." The boy bites his lip in thought. "Okay. Why don't you sing next to Nat for now? She's an alto." He gives her a small smile before standing up and walking to the door to prop it open with a door stop.

* * *

"You know for someone who just started taking singing lessons, you aren't that bad." Nat compliments Gamora as they walk out of the building with Shuri and Peter following closely behind. She leads the group to a strip mall that is a few blocks away from the school.

"Thanks."

"So," Peter clasps his hands in front of him. "Whereto first?!"

"I was thinking maybe Forever 21 and probably American Eagle. They're right next to each other."

"Nat..." Peter whines, dragging his hands down his face. "You couldn't have thought of a girlier place to shop at than Forever 21?"

"What? It's not like we're going to Victoria Secret!"

"I was thinking more along the lines of Hot Topic."

"Oh my, God-"

"The only reason you want to go there is for more of your little dolls!" Shuri interjects with a slight smirk.

"They aren't dolls!" Peter argues. "They're POP vinyls."

"Whatever! They are still toys!"

"Collectibles!"

"As I was saying!" Nat interrupts their small debate. "After we're done clothes shopping, I figured we could stop at Fury's Diner to get some dinner and then head to Walmart to find some cute decorations to put on your side of the room."

"Nat, I just realized something!" Peter exclaims, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk. The girls turn towards him, each raising an eyebrow. "We don't have a car; where are we gonna put all this shit?!"

"That's why you're here." Nat replies with a smirk, turning back around and continuing to walk in the other direction.

* * *

Upon reaching the first store, the group splits up, finding different outfits for Gamora. They decide to meet up in front of the dressing rooms, twenty minutes later. Nat collects the outfits from everyone in pairs and hangs them on a hook inside of one of the dressing rooms. "All yours!" She exclaims, presenting the small cubicle off to Gamora like it's a new car she won. The green girl hesitantly walks in, closing the door behind her and locking it.

After a few minutes, she walks out wearing one of the outfits that Nat found: a black and white striped, off-the-shoulder top, and skinny, light blue, denim overalls. "Cute!" Shuri exclaimed.

"Okay, that's a keeper for sure." Gamora's lips twitch upwards as she nods in agreement. "Try on the next one."

The next outfit was chosen by Shuri: a black, ruffled sleeveless top, and white geo print leggings. "Yes!"

The process continues for almost an hour: Gamora trying on each outfit, awaiting a second opinion from Shuri, Peter and Nat.

"Did you even attempt to try to find her anything?!" Shuri stage whispers to Peter as Gamora changes into the last outfit.

"I'm not a girl, okay?! I found her _a_ outfit. She's trying it on right now."

As if on command, Gamora walks out in a white Guns N' Roses tee, tucked into a pair of light blue cuffed, high-rise denim shorts. A black and white flannel is tightly secured around her slim waist. The ringlets of her long, semi-ebony hair fall to her bare shoulders, while a light grey beanie tames the baby hairs near her forehead.

Peter gawks at her once she exits. He doesn't even hear the squeals coming from Shuri or the compliments from Nat. All he can hear is _her_ laugh. He's never heard her laugh before. It was a genuine laugh, almost as if she was having fun.

"Did you really pick that out for her?" Nat's question breaks him from his thoughts.

"Uh-uh...well, yeah, I guess."

"To be honest, I thought you would've picked out a slutty dress or something."

"Really?" The shorter teen nods.

"Nice work, pal." Nat pats him roughly on the shoulder. "For the record, I know you like her." She whispers with a smirk.

"No, I don't!"

"Okay, whatever you say!"


	5. An Open Book to Be Read

"It's a quarter to seven." Nat announces as they exit a three-story building covered in diffusive, paneled windows and a large, lit-up sign reading _'HM'_.

"We should probably think about dinner, then." Shuri states, walking beside her.

"Fury's Diner is only a few buildings down."

Gamora follows closely behind, adjusting the paper and plastic bags that occupy both of her arms and hands. _THUD!_ Black and red tresses whip around to Peter, trying to look casual after walking into the automatic door. A sly smile forms on Gamora's lips as she rolls her eyes playfully and turns back around, continuing to trail behind the two girls.

The Terran boy catches up to her, following her suit. "Gamora, I can carry some of those."

"Thank you, but I can handle it."

Peter raises his hands in defense, earning another small smile from her. His lips form a soft smile in return.

The diner is relatively small, compared to the other buildings in the strip. It's covered black and white checkers with a bright red base towards the bottom. A large white window sits beside the single, black door with a window and a white square in the midst of it. A neon open sign, rests lit-up against the window. The inside has the same retro-vibe with the entire left wall being red, while the rest are white, and the tile floor having identical black and white checkers as the walls outside. A large red counter with a black marbled top sits next to the side of the door with a soda machine and different condiments resting on top of it. A bar of the same color sits in the middle of the red wall, surrounded by multiple red and silver stools, having a small opening towards the middle for people to order. Various long, red tables are scattered around it, occupying four identical stools at each one.

Nat guides the group to a table towards the back as they place their belongings next to their stools. "I can order if you guys let me know what you want."

"I'll just have my _ushe_." Peter says, sitting down on his stool.

"Same goes for me!" Shuri exclaims, mimicking Peter's position and pulling out her phone.

"Okay. Gamora, you want anything?"

"I'm fine, but thank you." She replies with a soft smile as Nat nods in response, walking towards the bar. The emerald-skinned girl knows she should probably reconsider, but spent so long with Thanos to the point she's used to not eating much. Peter watches her with hawk eyes as she takes a seat across from him.

"Shuri!" Nat calls from across the diner. "Come help me carry food!" The girl nods and approaches her in a timely fashion.

As soon as she leaves, Peter leans across the table. "Hey, you should get something to eat." He whispers to the green girl in across from him.

"I'm not hungry." She whispers back, leaning towards him as well so he can hear her better.

"Bullshit. I've been with you since like five this morning-you haven't eaten anything since lunch!"

"Peter, I told you I'm not hungry."

"You barely ate dinner last night, too-"

"Peter-"

"You gotta eat more-"

"STOP!" She snaps, earning curious stares from everyone in the diner, including the two girls grabbing food. "Stop," She whispers again, after everyone continues on with their daily lives. "I-"

"Is everything good over here?" Nat asks as she and Shuri return with food and drinks.

"Yeah-"

"Yes-" The two kids say in unison. Gamora glares at Peter as the two girls distribute food and drinks.

The chocolate color of the Zen-Whoberian's eyes lingers on the food that the boy in front of her is consuming like a vacuum. His hazel eyes meet hers as he glances up with half a burger in his hands. They shift to his fries as he cautiously pulls a few out of the red, cardboard carton and holds it out towards her. "Here, have one."

Gamora crosses her arms over her chest and glares at him once again, yet shifting her eyes between his and the food in his hand.

"It's good..." He singsongs, shaking it a bit in front of her. The girl rolls her eyes and lets out a heavy sigh, taking the fries from him. Peter hums in contentment as he watches Gamora take a small bite out of one. Her brown eyes widen as she quickly consumes the rest in her hand. Wanting nothing more than to see her eat, Peter places the carton of fries in front of her. "I'm pretty full. You can have the rest."

A small smirk creeps onto Nat's pink lips as she glances at Peter's content face as he watches Gamora finish eating the fries. His eyes meet hers as he shrugs. Nat's smirk grows as she raises an eyebrow. Realizing that Gamora has all of her attention to the fries in front of her, Nat turns towards Peter and forms a heart with her hands. The boy's face turned red as a tomato as it clearly grows into an expression that tells her to stop. She giggles a little, turning back around to her food.

* * *

The sun has almost set for the night by the time the group of kids return to their dormitory. They immediately head straight for Nat and Gamora's room as soon as they walk through the front door, and start putting away the new clothes and few decorations they had picked out for Gamora. Now, a string of small, lit-up lanterns, in various shades of pink, hangs diagonally across the corner of the room that separates Gamora's bed from the door. Above her white desk, sits a purple, square canvas with a heart in the middle, wearing headphones. Above the heart sits an ' _I_ ', while ' _music_ ' sits below.

Feeling content with how the room looks, Shuri says her _goodnights_ before heading off to bed. Nat grabs a pair of pajamas out of her drawer before heading towards the bathroom to do the same, leaving Peter and Gamora in the room alone.

"I've got an idea." Peter announces after a few moments in silence. Gamora turns her attention towards him with a raised brow. "There's a bunch of books in the lobby downstairs-it's gotta be hard for you at school right now, with-" The girl nods, ripping her eyes away from his and forcing them to the ground. "I mean pretty much everyone's in bed. We could grab a few books and I can start teaching you-"

"Could we do it at the park?" Gamora interrupts.

"What?"

"The park. I find it very relaxing there." She finally has the courage to return her gaze to him-a soft smile creeping onto her lips.

"Y-yeah. I mean we could do that."

True to his word, the duo sneaks downstairs, snagging a few novels and a portable, electronic lantern, leaving the building in their pajamas. Like the previous night, Peter plays music softly from his phone as they walk to the park. Gamora sits beneath a tree with low branches as Peter hangs the lantern on one of them, creating enough light to see the text of one of the books.

"Okay." Peter says as he takes a seat next to Gamora. "Remember what I taught you when Nat and Shuri went to the bathroom before we went to Walmart? About the different sounds each letter makes?"

"Yes."

"You'll see what I mean. I'm gonna read a few words and you're gonna repeat them as we read. Then, I'll have you try to read some on your own." Gamora nods as Peter picks up one of the novels beside him. He can practically feel the heat of Gamora's body when she sits shoulder-to-shoulder with him. He points to the words on the cover as he reads them aloud, " _The Perks_ -"

" _The Perks_ -"

" _Of Being-_ "

" _Of Being-_ "

" _A Wallflower_."

" _A Wall...flower_." The last word lingers on her tongue as she is unable to comprehend what it means. "Peter, why are you making me read a novel written by a flower that lives on a wall?"

The boy slightly chuckles wholeheartedly. "No, it's an idiom. It's pretty much a person who isn't very social or outgoing. Like an introvert." The only thing the girl beside him can do, is nod. Peter opens the novel to the first page. " _Part one_ -"


	6. Singing, Dancing Assassin

"Are they supposed to fit this tightly?" Gamora asks, adjusting the black, capri jeggings she is required to wear for choir competitions.

It is now October 26th, only a day away from being two months since school started. Somehow, she managed to get out of community service-probably because of the fact that she didn't do anything wrong. In that time, she also couldn't believe she would've been able to become so close to people. Of course she's close to Nat, having to be her roommate, but she also got close to Shuri, and the rest of the kids in the choir-Wanda, Tony, Daisy, and Little Peter (as the group calls him). The other Peter, however, is a completely different story.

Peter Jason Quill makes her feel like time freezes whenever he's around her. He causes her stomach to feel weird-similar to the feeling right before you vomit, but pleasing in a way. There was a time, a few weeks ago, when he started giving her nicknames: G, Gam, Gammy. He even calls her 'Songbird' at times, noticing the way it makes her heart melt below her stoic mask. The reason behind it was simple as Peter notices the way Gamora adores the Fleetwood Mac song of the same name. The way he cares about her-teaching her how to read, how to sing, being kind-she wonders what she ever did to deserve him as a 'best friend' as he calls her.

It's the day of their first competition of the year. Of course, of all the places it can be held, they have to compete inside of their own auditorium against various of other ensembles from different schools around theirs. The majority of the group is pretty nervous, with the exception of Tony and Peter, whose egotistical brains convince them that their entire performance is going to be awesome.

Right now, however, they are in the choir room, having just finished running through their act for the last time before having to perform in front of the audience and judges. Peter walks over towards the piano, panting, and grabs the opened bottle of water that sits on top of it, taking a huge swig. He places the cap back on and sets it back down in its original spot. His hazel eyes shift towards Gamora.

Like the rest of the girls in their group, she is wearing a red, loose halter top with a black sash stitched into the shirt, right below her breasts. Although, they have matching pants and shirts, the girls are allowed to add their own flare to make their uniforms unique. Gamora settles for two, large chained bangles-one in black, the other in white-and her go-to set of black bands on each finger, with the exception of her ring. The girls don't have identical shoes to wear either. The only request is that they match in black. Unlike the rest of the girls, who are wearing different styles of boots, Gamora is wearing a plain, pair of flats. Her black and red hair is half up in a topknot, the rest framing her face in ringlets.

The soft, yet darkness of her irises, meet Peter's as a small blush crawls upon her cheeks, causing her to focus her attention somewhere else. She is trying not to think about how out of all the guys in the same low-cut, maroon, long-sleeved v-neck and black, silky vest, Peter is definitely _NOT_ the most attractive, showing off his muscular arms in a pleasing way.

Before her thoughts can get any filthier, Peter clears his throat, instructing everyone to form a circle in the center of the room.

"OOH! Is it time for our ritual?!" Shiri asks excitedly, jumping up and down, while clapping her hands as if she was a little kid again.

"Ritual?" Gamora questions, raising an eyebrow in concern as she crosses her arms. "Like in a cult?"

" _Psh_! No!" Peter waves a hand, brushing off her concern. "Before every competition, we have the same ritual as a good luck charm."

Shuri turns towards Gamora, still in her childish state and grabs both of her hands. "We came up with it last year. It is a lot of fun!"

"Do you know how to do the rain dance?" Peter asks, gaining Gamora's full attention as Shuri releases her. She shakes her head. "Okay, well, I don't think it'll hurt to perform the ritual twice. We could show you how to do it the first time and then you could join us the second!" Gamora shrugs and hesitantly nods her head, before stepping out of the circle.

"I already taught Tony how to do it!" Little Peter says in almost as much excitement as Shuri.

"Okay, cool! Everyone ready?" As soon as everyone nods, they begin.

Peter explains each movement as the group starts off by rubbing their hands together. A few seconds later, every other person in the circle starts snapping both of their fingers. Then, every third person in the circle starts patting their thighs. Finally, everyone who was still rubbing their hands together, is now stomping their feet hard against the tile floor. Suddenly, Peter shushes everyone as they all smirk at each other and begin to rub their hands once again in unison. That's when Peter starts singing, " _Just a young gun with a quick fuse_ ,". Meanwhile, the same pattern that started with the rain dance begins once again, with the rubbing hands, and stomps and snaps in a beat- _stomp...snap...stomp-stompstomp...snap._ " _Not a yes sir, not a follower,_ " Peter sings as the movements continue in the same pattern. Eventually, the girls start singing staccato ' _thunders'_ as the people who were rubbing their hands together, start clapping in a steady rhythm. " _Thunder, feel the thunder,_ " Every other person jumps three times to the beat in unison. After the song ends, they gradually ease back into the rain dance, ending in everyone stomping, before jumping up and shouting ' _LET'S GO, S.A._!'.

"Man, I feel like a cheerleader now." Tony admits, placing his hands on his hips.

"Wouldn't surprise me if you were." Nat chuckles.

"Hahaha, hilarious."

Peter gives Gamora a crooked smile, gesturing for her to come and join them. She gives him a soft smile in return and joins the group in the circle. They do the ritual for a second time and Gamora finds herself laughing with everyone as she repeatedly messes up.

As soon as their feet touch the ground after shouting for the second time, the students spread out around the choir room, retreating to their water bottles. The only exceptions being Peter and Gamora who found themselves approaching each other with wide beams, until their fronts were pressed up against each other. Gamora tilts her head up to gaze into Peter's eyes. They begin to lean in with their eyes fluttering closed. The distance between them is so limited that they could feel the other's warm breaths against their lips... _WHOOSH!_ They jump apart when the choir doors are pulled open with much more force than necessary to reveal no other than Coulson.

"What are you guys doing?! The competition starts in five minutes! You guys better get in there, now or you're gonna be eliminated!" The kids look at each other with wide eyes, before sprinting past Coulson and heading towards the auditorium.

* * *

A loud applause fills the auditorium as a short blonde girl from one of the prep schools, finishes her emotional solo with glassy eyes. She curtsies with the rest of her choir as they exit backstage, passing a nervous Gamora, who looks as if she's literally holding herself together. The Zen-Whoberian starts pacing back and forth, noticing that every choir that exits backstage is another choir closer to their performance.

On the opposite side of the stage, Nat, Peter, and Shuri are all watching each choir perform. As the next choir enters the stage, Nat glances at Peter. "So...homecoming is next weekend..."

"Steve ask you yet?"

"Yeah. Actually, right before we left. You didn't notice?"

Peter shrugs. "I wasn't really paying attention..." He thinks back to what he _was_ paying attention to earlier that day-Gamora. Not very surprising, but it was the truth. They had gone to the park, which had become _their_ special place to hang out. He remembers swinging with her and talking about how much she had changed in just the two months they knew each other. They laughed about it, in fact.

"'When are you gonna ask her?"

Nat's voice breaks him from his thoughts, making him realize that he'd been staring at the said woman the entire time. "Wait, who...Gamora?"

"Who else, Dummy?!" Shuri exclaims quietly, while playfully raising her brows.

"Listen, I really appreciate you guys shipping us, but as you can probably tell, she clearly does not-"

"BULLSHIT!" Nat yells, a little louder than she meant. She apologizes quickly before turning her full attention back to Peter. "Don't pretend like nobody saw what happened before Coulson walked in!" Her voice is quieter now-merely a stage whisper. When Peter opens his mouth to speak, Nat continues to talk, "Listen, if it makes you feel better, Shuri and I will help you like we always do." She put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Now get over there and calm her down before she has a heart attack!" Shuri instructs, shoving him in the direction of Gamora.

The boy glares at her before making his way to Gamora, who continues to pace. "G?"

The Zen-Whoberian whips around to face him, forcing a fake smile. "Hey, you ready?"

"Well, yeah." He replies awkwardly, running a hand through his hair. The mask Gamora is hiding under slowly disappears as Peter notices the worried look underneath it. "Hey, it's gonna be okay! I promise."

"But, I always mess up that one part-" Gamora's gaze goes everywhere, but his.

"And you stayed up all night, practicing."

"I told you, I'm not a performer. If I still can't get it right-"

"As much as I want to say that there _are_ perfect choirs out there and we're one of em', there aren't and _we_ aren't. Everyone screws up. It's a part of being human, I guess, but you can't let that get to you." Gamora finally allows herself to lock her eyes with his as he firmly grasps her arms. "You are way more talented than you give yourself credit for." He loosens his grip and continues to gaze into her beautiful, brown eyes. To his surprise, she breaks out of his grasp and wraps her arms around his neck. His arms slowly snake their way around her waist.

"Thank you." She whispers into his ear.

 _'Next, can we have the Shield Academy Acapella Choir please enter the stage?'_ One of the judges call from in front of the curtain as the last choir exits.

Gamora's grasp stiffens a little before she lets go. Peter gives her a soft smile before winking. She playfully rolls her eyes at him as he rounds up the rest of their group.

"Okay, so I'm gonna give a quick little good luck speech; we're gonna be awesome. _We're_ gonna kill it. _We're_ gonna get through to the next round. Let's go out there and show them what we can do!"

They all smile at one another before running onstage, grabbing cordless microphones and positioning themselves into a vertical line. The order, starting from the front: Peter, Gamora, Little Peter, Shuri, Nat, Tony, Wanda and finally, Daisy. Peter pulls out a circular pitch pipe and blows into it, producing an F chord. The group starts singing the instrumental to ' _You Make My Dreams_ ' as each kid leans to the opposite direction as the person in front of them, with the exception of Daisy. By the time the first verse starts, Daisy is revealed as the rest of the kids stand up and take a step to the side. She starts singing the first verse as she approaches the front of the stage. The rest of the kids form a horizontal line, following her from behind. They all turn their backs to the audience before the second verse starts. Daisy turns her head enough to face the audience as she begins to sing again. The group behind her faces the left side of the stage as the song enters the chorus. They take two steps forward before pointing to the audience. " _Well, well, well, you-you make my dreams come true!_ " Daisy sings with a smile a mile wide.

Their time on stage goes by in a flash as everyone holds their last notes before the auditorium goes eerily quiet. Suddenly, the audience, including the judges, applause, louder and crazier than for any of the other choirs before them. Each member is beaming and the group stands in a horizontal line, grabbing each other's hands and bowing as a group.

As soon as the judges dismiss them, the group runs backstage continuing to celebrate their success.

"Peter!"

Gamora uncharacteristically runs to Peter and jumps into his arms. He twirls her around, unaware that his smile could get any bigger. "You didn't mess up! Gam, you were awesome!" He exclaims after setting her back down.

The green girl can't say a word and so, she doesn't. She just stands there and continues to smile at him like an idiot. Only Peter Jason Quill can make her do such a thing and although she knows why, she acts as though she doesn't.

Peter sees Daisy and wraps her in a side hug. " _You_ , Miss ' _I-aint-gonna-get-the-solo_ ', nailed it!"

"Thanks, Peter!" Daisy says with a soft smile. She notices FitzSimmons waiting for her near the entrance of the dressing room and speed-walks towards them in excitement.

"When do we find out if we made it?" Gamora asks in curiosity.

"Coulson will let us know tomorrow."

"Are we allowed to leave?"

"Yeah, I guess. Why?"

* * *

"To be completely honest, I didn't think I was gonna like performing. After we finished though, when nothing happened, I felt sick to my stomach. Then, the audience...I think that's the first time I have ever been applauded for anything." Gamora admits, rocking the swing back and forth with her hands clasped in her lap.

"So, you're admitting that you _are_ a performer?"

"I never said that. I just said that maybe, performing isn't as bad as I thought it was gonna be." They both chuckle wholeheartedly.

The sun has almost finished setting for the night. Peter and Gamora watch it in silence, the only noise coming from Peter's music as usual. This was a newer thing for them. Sure, the park was deemed their ' _place_ ', but watching the sun set every few days and reading together afterwards has been a new routine they've both become accustomed to.

"It's beautiful."

"You say that every time." Peter chuckles.

"It's true, though." Gamora faces Peter with soft eyes. "Isn't it?"

"Yeah."

 _Loneliness has always been a friend of mine_

 _I'm leaving my life in your hands_

 _People say I'm crazy and that I am blind_

 _Risking it all in a glance_

"Gamora?"

The girl takes her attention off the newly dark horizon, realizing that Peter had stopped his swing and was now standing next to her with an extended hand. He hasn't requested to do this in a while- _dance_. In fact, the last time he had requested, was the only time he had requested, and resulted in him getting slapped. However, she's known him for two months. She knows him enough to know that he won't force her to do anything that makes her uncomfortable. Sure, sometimes he'll try to talk her into things, but he would never force her to do them. Which is why she gave in.

Peter pulls her off the swing, glancing as it squeaks lightly and slowly halts to a stop. He places her hand on his shoulder, before placing his own, lightly on her waist. The fingers from his freehand intertwine with hers. The begin to sway to the rhythm of the song, gazing into each other's eyes.

 _I don't care who you are, where you're from_

 _What you did, as long as you love me_

 _Who you are, where you're from_

 _What you did, as long as you love me_

"Hey." Peter whispers with his signature crooked smile. "So, you know that dance Nat has been going on about?"

Gamora raises her eyebrows. "You mean the one she's been trying to get us to go to, together?"

"Uh-"

"Peter, I'm not stupid. I know Nat has been trying to set us up since we met." She glares, but somewhat softly, at him.

"Yeah...I'm sorry about that."

Gamora's glare fades away, a look of curiosity in its place. "What about it?"

"Well, I was thinking-"

"That we should go along with Nat's little plan?"

"No! I mean...not like that. I was just thinking it'd be fun?" When Gamora doesn't respond right away, Peter continues to ramble on, "Um, if you don't want to-"

The Zen-Whoberian tightens her grip on him and pulls him closer to her. "I'd love to, Peter."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You are my-what do you call it- _best friend,_ after all." She gives him a playful smile.

The boy returns the gesture as they continue to dance. He tries something new and possibly dangerous, pressing a soft kiss to her hairline. It isn't long until she responds, laying her head against his chest.

 _I've tried to hide it so that no one knows_

 _But I guess it shows when you look into my eyes_

 _What you did and where you're coming from_

 _Well, I don't care as long as you love me_


	7. You Fought My Flaws, My Teeth, My Claws

Homecoming is held on a Saturday as most public schools. The function hall near campus is covered in sky blue and white decorations. Balloons, filled with helium, float to the ceiling as streamers dangle across the walls. It's beautiful.

However, the only thing more beautiful than the decorated function hall is the emerald-skinned girl clad in a cerulean, high-low dress. The top is beaded from the slightly darker belt to the fingertip-length straps. The front of the chiffon bottom falls slightly above her knees, while the back falls slightly below them. A golden star, embedded with tiny silver rhinestones, hangs around her neck from a gold chain, laying halfway down her chest. Each ankle is wrapped with straps, connecting to silver, four-inch heels. Her red and ebony hair lays past her shoulders, curled into soft ringlets.

"Hi." It's all he can say with a lopsided smile as he stares fondly at the girl in front of him.

"Hi." She greets back as her face becomes slightly greener than before.

"You...um-" Peter awkwardly rubs the back of his neck. "You look gorgeous."

Gamora rips her eyes away from his, forcing them towards the ground as the heat continues to rise in her cheeks. She rubs her arm with a shy smile creeping onto her lips. "Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself."

Strobe lights of the color scheme, flash over their bodies as the bass from the music (which is horrible, in Peter's opinion) vibrates underneath their feet. They stand there awkwardly for a few songs, until a familiar one started to play. The slow, steady rhythm of the synthesizer fills the hall.

Peter contemplates whether or not to ask Gamora to dance, having never ask her in public before. He glances over her shoulder to see Nat, in a short, black bodycon dress, and a low chignon, slow dancing with Steve. As Nat is turned around to face Peter, she looks at him in disbelief, mouthing at him to ask Gamora to dance.

He returns his gaze to Gamora, who is still awkwardly rubbing her arm and looking at the ground. "Hey, Gam?" The boy shouts over the loud music. It gains her attention as she springs up, staring intently into his hazel eyes. He gives her a soft smile before continuing, "Wanna dance?"

Gamora returns the gesture and nods slightly. She wraps her arms around Peter's neck as he places his on her hips, like they're used to.

 _When you love someone,_

 _when you love someone_

 _It feels so right, so warm and true,_

 _I need to know if you feel it too_

The tension in Gamora's body slowly fades as they continue to dance. She thinks about everything she's been through the past few years and everything she's experienced in the two months she's been here. How Peter's been so kind to her and easing her into this _unspoken thing_ between them. Every small gesture, every small move-it's all for her. She knows deep down he wants to move fast, but he respects her enough to move at the pace she's comfortable at. They haven't made anything official, but she knows she gets a weird knot in her stomach every time she sees that idiotic smile on his face. The feeling, however, was more pleasant than she'd expected. Suddenly, she realizes all he's done for her and never _once_ has she thanked him.

Peter's eyes widen as Gamora stops swaying and wraps her arms tighter around his neck, pushing their fronts together. The boy slowly returns the gesture, wrapping his arms lightly around the small of her back. "Thank you-" There's a slight quiver in her voice as if she might break down and cry. She takes a shaky breath before giving him a lingering kiss on his cheek. Her head returns to the crook of his neck, slowing beginning to sway with him again. "For everything."

 _I've been waiting for a girl like you_

 _To come into my life_

 _I've been waiting for a girl like you_

 _A love that will survive_

Before Peter can open his mouth to speak, Gamora feels the need to explain herself further. She lifts her head from his shoulder and stares into the souls of his hazel eyes. "I came to this school, trying to escape from Thanos. I didn't think anyone would want to become my friend. To be honest, I didn't even think I deserved it. Then, you came along and faceplanted into the ground." A slight chuckle escapes from both of their lips. "I was confused why you came up to me that day. You barely knew my name and-"

"And I saw someone who needed a friend." They share a soft smile for a moment. Peter starts to realize Gamora is holding something back, noticing the way she's subconsciously biting on her lip and shifting her gaze anywhere besides his. He lets out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and begins to speak again, " _This is happening. I am here and I am looking at her. And she is so beautiful. I can see it-_ "

" _This one moment when you know you're not a sad story. You are alive, and you stand up and see the lights on the buildings and everything that makes you_ wonder-"

 _"And you're listening to that song and that drive with the people you love most in this world. And in this moment I swear,-"_

 _"We are infinite."_ They finish the quote in unison, smiling from ear-to-ear at each other.

"You memorized that entire quote?" Gamora asks with joyful, yet furrowed eyebrows.

"When we read it together, you told me it was your favorite." A content hum escapes the girl's lips. "What are you holding back?"

Suddenly, the flashing lights and loud music become too much for Gamora. Her smile turns around as Peter notices her silent, yet frantic breathing. He tugs on her arm and she barely hears his voice telling her to follow him. The emerald-skinned girl allows him to guide her to one of the gaping french doors that led to the terrace behind the building.

It's a beautiful touch to the function hall, a few feet above the ground and fenced off with a short, stone wall. It runs from one side of the building to the other, as the front porch does, having a wide staircase that leads down to the rest of the yard. Like the french door they entered through, there's an identical one on the opposite side of the terrace, both having a large, white-rimmed, arched window on either side of the doors. A glass tea table with a white, wooden base lies in front of each window, occupied by two white, ladder armchairs and a lit votive centerpiece that looked like a small, crystal bowl. A wooden, garden bench sits in the midst of it all, accompanied by two bouquets of balloons in shades of blue, white and silver, and a string of fairy lights that dangles from the wall above it, connecting the windows together.

"Wow." Gamora whispers with a sense of childlike wonder in her dark brown eyes. She has already taken a few minutes to regain her normal breathing by the time she realizes the beautiful garden that extends from beyond the terrace to the start of a small forest. The sudden brightness in her eyes focus on the way the stone pavement extends from the stairs and splits into two different directions, encompassed with: a pattern of red and pink rose bushes, and long, white columns with strands of fairy lights linking loosely to each other, causing a slight dip in each of the strings.

Peter, however, isn't paying attention to any of it. Instead, he is intently gazing at the beautiful young woman in front of him. That rare doe-eyed innocence in her brown irises makes the corners of his lips touch the sky. The way the calm, night breeze lightly blows her hair, makes his heart beat faster. He knew he was screwed the very first day they met, but he hasn't realized how much until this moment-this _calm_ moment, where it's just the two of them. The loud, intense bass from the horrible music inside has faded and the only thing he can hear is the rapid beating of his chest.

"Gam?" He snaps out of it, yet the music inside is still faded from his ears. Although she doesn't say a word, she shifts her gaze to him. "I wanna show you something." She takes her heels off and sets them on the ground. Their hands find each other as Peter gently guides her down the steps.

* * *

"How is it we're the only ones out here?" Gamora questions curiously as her left arm links with Peter's, while the other lays gently over his muscular bicep. They walk slowly, following the white, stone path as the strings of fairy lights, light their way.

The boy shrugs and responds with a low, raspy voice, "I don't know. I don't even think they personally know about it. Everyone's so focused on the dance itself, they know about the doors being open, but I don't think anyone, besides me and the folks who set this all up, have actually been out here."

Gamora stops walking, and turns to face him, though not letting go of his arm. Her brows furrow in curiosity. "When have you ever been out here?"

"Well," Peter gently pulls her along as they start walking again. "Like I've said before, I was kind of a loner until you came along. I mean, I wasn't gonna miss out on free food and dancing." He admits it with a chuckle, causing Gamora to look up at him, instead of paying attention to where she was going. "But, um, to be completely honest, I-I felt out of place going with a group of people I barely knew. So, I just went by myself and I noticed how vacant it was back here. That's when I found this-"

It's incredible how much bigger her eyes got when Peter shows her a large magnolia tree lit up with strands of fairy lights. There's a single, wooden tree swing attached to it with vines of flowers wrapped around each rope. The trunk is surrounded by bushels of flowers and encircled by brick. The area around it is surrounded in the same stone pavement, surrounded by the rose bushes and, eventually, bushels of other brightly-colored flowers.

"It's beautiful." It isn't long until he continues to guide her to the swing, gesturing for her to have a seat as smiles shyly.

Peter hops onto a crevice in the tree where the branches diverge into different directions, and takes a seat. He watches as Gamora closes her eyes, taking in the calmness of the garden, while rocking the swing slightly with her bare feet. An idea comes to mind as he jumps off the tree and grabs both of Gamora's hands to pull her off the swing. Like a child, he giggles and runs into the field, pulling his date with him as the back of her dress levitates slightly in the air behind them. He can hear the small giggles escape her mouth...she _never_ giggles.

As they run through the field, a plethora of fireflies ascend into the air, creating a light show unlike any other. The lights illuminate the beautiful greenness of Gamora's face as her eyes sparkle with a newfound happiness she is discovering for the first time since she was little. Unaware that Peter ever left the space in front of her, he returns with something clasped inside his hands.

"Give me your hands." The excitement on his face only grows when she complies with a wide smile of her own. He gently places something small and _alive_ in her hands, closing them quickly, yet gently. When he nods at her, she curiously opens her hands. In her palm is a single firefly, tickling her skin as it crawls around. After a few moments, it joins its companions in the air. Gamora watches as it flies away with her chin tilted towards the sky, until she can no longer see the slow flicker of its light. When she lowers her head, she notices Peter had been staring at her the whole time...and she knew exactly why.

"I'm scared-" She admits as the childlike innocence fades from her eyes. "I'm scared because I've lived most of my life surrounded by the people I hate. Before I met you, I never knew what it was like to be able to look at someone and smile for no reason. And all of our small, stupid conversations mean more to me than you'll ever know. You make me laugh when I don't even want to smile. And f-for some reason, you're the first and last thing on my mind, each and every day." Peter can start to see the slight change of color in her face as the heat rises to her cheeks. "For years, I've had these weights pulling me down and you make me feel weightless, and carefree, and I don't know how it's possible. I'm scared, Peter, because I'm feeling something that I've never felt before and I don't know what it means, or how I'm supposed to feel about it."

A single tear falls from her eye and slowly trails down her cheek. In a single movement, Peter wipes it away and pulls her into a soft embrace. "It's okay," He coos her, running a hand up and down her back. They break apart, but remain close, keeping their hands intertwined. "I feel it, too."

"What does it mean, Peter?"

"It just means that you've found the right person to call your best friend and the right partner to dance with." Gamora lets out a quiet, watery laugh. "In all honesty, I don't know what it means. All I know is you're my best friend, and we get through things _together_."

" _Are_ we best friends? Or are we something else?"

"I don't know." Their faces have somehow gotten closer, now able to feel the warm breaths of each other.

"Peter-"

"Trust me." He whispers back, leaning in further as their eyes close. Everything feels like it's in slow motion. That's when it finally happens, when their lips _finally_ meet. It's quick and it's brief, but to them it feels like eternity.

"You kissed me."

"You didn't slap me."

"Anyone hears about this, I will."

Peter chuckles a little. "Fair enough."

* * *

They begin to walk back to the terrace, hand-in-hand. Neither of them spoke a word and it was silent. A _comfortable_ silence, but it was the good kind. When neither speak a word, yet the silence means everything. However, a loud growl from Peter's stomach, ruins the moment as they finally arrive.

"You should get something to eat." Gamora states, glancing at the buffet tables from inside.

"Okay, but you're eating, too." Peter begins to walk backwards to the opened doors. "What do you want?"

"Surprise me." She replies with a playful smirk. The boy winks at her as he walks into the building, causing that rapid beating in her chest once again. A small chuckle escapes her lips as she turns back around to enjoy the view of the garden.

It isn't long, however, before her advanced sight allows her to see the grass and trees nearby being blown at a rapid speed, despite the calm breeze. Her body tenses as the fairy lights begin to flicker, before completely burning out. She backs slowly towards the door nearest to her, carefully scanning her surroundings. She makes a mistake; she didn't check her blindspot...

The next thing she knows is she's kicked in the back hard enough to fall off the terrace and land on the stone pavement below her. She slowly picks herself up, unaware of the scrapes trailing from her forearms to her hands. She cries out in pain as someone grabs her hair, pulling her to her feet and beginning to hold her in a death grip. A strand of lights flicker back on, revealing the silhouette of a familiar blue figure.

"Nebula." Gamora greets in a deadly tone, causing the boy behind her to tighten his grip. "Ronan."

"That's right." Nebula walks out of the shadows, pressing the tip of a small dagger to Gamora's throat. "Where's the orb?"

"I don't have it." The older girl spits through her teeth.

"Lies!" The Luphomoid yells, grazing the tip of the dagger slightly against her sister's neck to allow a drip of blood to escape. "Tell me where it is, or I will slit your throat open and torture every 'friend' you've made here until I find it."

"I told you, I DON'T HAVE IT!"

"What if she's telling the truth?" Ronan asks, revealing his deep voice. "Morag is the only planet we haven't searched."

Nebula glares at Gamora for a moment, considering his words before ripping the dagger away from Gamora's neck. "Fine, but, if we don't find it there, I will not only kill you, but every person you love." She gestures at Ronan to release her. The boy pushes her to her hands and knees before following Nebula to their ship that was no longer cloaked.

* * *

"No way-"

"You did not-" Natasha and Shuri speak in unison as they meet Peter by the buffet table.

"We did." The boy gloats, filling up a plate with junk food.

"Was it hot?" Nat asks with a wink.

"Was it everything you hoped?!"

"Was there _tongue_ involved?" There is a significant amount of emphasis on the word as Nat winks again.

Shuri elbows her in the side. "Natasha! That is private!"

"What?! I made it well known when Steve and I first kissed like that."

"You guys want the truth? It was short and sweet. No tongue involved. Sorry to burst your bubble, Nat."

"Dammit!"

The trio chuckles for a moment before the sound of a war cry, followed by Drax running outside with his signature daggers, breaks them in to sheer concern. "What the hell?"

Apparently, they were the only ones who noticed, following the maniac outside, stopping at the edge of the terrace. They missed the event itself, but put the pieces together: Drax's unconscious body near the gazebo, an unknown ship ascending into the air, and Gamora on her knees in the center of the garden.

Upon seeing her shaking form, Peter runs to her side, noticing the way she's physically holding herself together. Without thinking, he places his large, yet gentle hands on her shoulders. Gamora's body tenses at first, but she finally relaxes, recognizing his soft grip far to well. She begins to shake more intensely as muffled sobs escape her.

"What happened?" Peter asks, a few minutes after she stopped crying.

"You're in danger. You all are." The boy raises his brows in confusion. "It's Nebula."

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, so! If ya'll were wondering, the song is I've Been Waiting For a Girl Like You, by Foreigner. The quote Peter and Gamora cite together is from The Perks of Being a Wallflower (AKA the book they were reading in previous chapters). And a lot of the things Gamora says, when she admits her feelings for Peter, came from quotes I found on Google! XDDD (I don't have a love life as you can tell!) Anyways! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and are looking forward to the next! :)**


	8. Golden Girl (I'll Keep You Forever)

**A/N:** **Sooooooooo, I thought about if they were all teenagers in real life, which actors would portray them. To be honest, I couldn't really come up with any for Drax, Rocket and Groot are both CGI anyways so they're good, Shuri and Little Peter are already considered 'teens'. So I came up with Megan Nicole as Gamora (yes, I know she has kind of a higher-pitched voice than Zoe does, but I still think she'd make a really cute Gamora), Madilyn Bailey as Nat, and imagine Nat Wolff WITH STRAWBERRY BLONDE HAIR, as Peter?! Idk, it was just an idea! XDD Anyways enjoy and please like and review! 3**

* * *

 _They run_. They leave Homecoming and _run_. They had managed to wake Drax from his unconscious state, but Gamora was still in a state of shock before they left, causing Peter to pull her to her feet and hold her upright as they ran.

Peter digs around in the pocket of his pants for the keys to the performing arts building. Once he finds them, he unlocks the front door, immediately guiding the group to the choir room.

After everyone is safely inside, Peter locks the doors and turns on the lights. Luckily, the only windows in the room are attached to the doors.

Nat and Shuri guide Gamora to one of the chairs, Peter's maroon, leather jacket loosely covering her bare shoulders. Her arms are still wrapped around her abdomen, trembling slightly.

"Gamora, _what is_ _going on_?" Nat asks in a tone in what seems like she had asked for the hundredth time.

"It's my sister-she's insane." Instead of looking at the girl in crouched in front of her, her gaze is towards the dirty floor.

"Gamora, you told me Thanos-"

"She's adopted." She snaps, immediately regretting it and finally giving Nat an apologetic look. Her eyes rip away from Nat's and shift back to the floor. "I'm not the only one Thanos took from their homeworld."

Shuri crouches down besides Nat, resting an assuring hand on Gamora's bare knee. "Your sister-what does she plan to do?"

"I don't know exactly what she's up to, but I know she's after this _orb_. I was on a mission to find it before I crashed here. She thought I had it-" Gamora takes a deep breath before standing up and walking towards the piano. "If it's anything like I think it is, we might be in trouble."

"Then, we need to stop her." Peter chimes in, slowly approaching her.

"It's not just her we need to stop-she joined Ronan."

"Wait, who's Ronan?" Peter asks with a raised brow, the rest of the group watching their conversation intently.

"A Kree fanatic who works for Thanos."

The mention of the name sends chills down Peter's spine. Gamora has told him of the pain Thanos inflicted, not only on her, but millions of innocent people around the universe. She has told him what he's capable of and his one and only goal: to eradicate half the universe.

"Ronan may have killed my lover, Hovat, and my younger sister, Kamaria, but Thanos is by far the strongest being in the universe. I will accompany you on your quest to find this orb. Then, I will kill Ronan and avenge my family's deaths." Drax was very silent until that moment. He crosses the room to join Peter and Gamora near the piano.

"What exactly is this orb?" Peter asks, completely brushing off Drax's entire speech. "From what it sounds, it seems like some kind of weapon."

"I don't know what it is."

"If it's a weapon, we should use it against Ronan."

Gamora's head whips around to Drax. "You fool! You'll destroy us all!" Maybe snapping from a comment as small as that wasn't her best move, but it was too late.

"Or just you, MURDERESS!" Drax steps closer, pissing Gamora off even more so.

"I LET YOU LIVE ONCE, PRINCESS!" Gamora finds herself looking straight up at him, baring her teeth.

"I AM NOT A PRINCESS!" The tattooed boy stands up straighter, glaring at the smaller girl in front of him.

"WOAH, WOAH, WOAH! Nobody is killing _ANYBODY_ in my CHOIR ROOM!" Peter puts himself between them as they continue to glare at one another.

"It ain't _your_ choir room, dumbass." It's that stupid raccoon and giving tree whom always manages to find themselves in the same room as him.

Peter rolls his eyes and turns his head to said duo. "Can we help you? What are you even doing here?" The raccoon doesn't reply, giving Peter a vexing smirk instead. "Let me guess? Profit?"

"Oh, hell yeah!" Rocket crawls off Groot's shoulder and scales up the piano to gain the attention of the others. "I know someone who's _very_ trustworthy and is willing to pay a whole lotta units for that orb."

"How much?" Peter asks in curiosity, oblivious to Gamora's annoyed eye roll.

" _Four. Billion. Units._ " The emphasis on the three words captures Peter's attention as his eyes widen.

"Holy shit!"

"Yup! About a hundred thousand times the amount of Yondu's bounty on you. Groot and I were gonna go after it, but when we heard _Greenie_ over here mumbling somethin' about the orb, we thought we could use a few extra humies."

"And what makes you think we'll help you?" It's the first time Gamora speaks up since Rocket started talking.

"Cause', I have a big gun that could disable your mods and kill you in an instant."

"I am Groot."

"Shut up, Groot."

"I. Am. Groot." The tree says with more force.

After a few moments, Rocket crosses his arms and rolls his eyes. "Fine. Groot says we'll split the profit between everyone who gives us a hand."

"If I gave you my hand, it would require me to sever it off, disabling the ability to be helpful with it still attached." Everyone's jaws drop at the amount of stupidity they had just heard.

"It's an expression, dipshit." Rocket explains with another eye roll.

"I will never understand Terran sayings."

"It's not exclusively from Terra. People say it all the time."

"We're getting off track!" Gamora interrupts, watching as Drax and Rocket exchange a look and shrug their shoulders in unison.

"Are you in or not?"

Gamora's brown eyes find Peter's. He looks at her with the same grave expression, subtly nodding at her. There's _that_ look in his eyes. The same look he had when she came out of the dressing room at Forever 21 in the outfit he picked out for her. The same look he had when he noticed she was finally able to start reading paragraphs on her own. The same look he had when she finally joined in on the choir ritual. The same look he had when he finally had the guts to ask her to homecoming. The _same damn look_ he had when he kissed her. That genuine, caring look in his hazel eyes that she trusts more than _anything_ in the universe. There's nothing selfish in them either, meaning he has a ethical reason behind agreeing, and he would explain later. She knows him and she _trusts_ him.

With that, she turns to Rocket and sighs. "Yes, but if you do not undertake your part, I will be sure to skin you alive, _Rodent_. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Greenie, I do."

"If you guys are really considering this, you better make sure this buyer is trustworthy. If something happens that this 'orb' is a weapon and it's in the wrong hands, who knows what could go wrong." Nat states, putting a hand on Gamora's shoulder. The green girl nods in unison with Peter.

"How do we get off this dumb planet without confronting the director?"

"Well, Big Guy! I have a plan-"

* * *

Although Nat is training to be a spy for S.H.I.E.L.D., she has very awful plans, which is why Gamora, Drax, Peter, Rocket, and Groot are fully equipped to leave Earth and are on their way to headquarters. The entire building is built underground as a bunker at the edge of the city. The only section visible is a small dome-shaped structure made entirely of one-way glass, and the secret hangar roof behind it. Two men in S.H.I.E.L.D uniforms, guard the steel double doors to the structure.

It was a long drive from their dorms to headquarters-approximately four hours to be exact. So, yeah. It was a _long_ drive. Not to mention being in a small Volkswagen van with seven people, three of which were not as friendly as the others (well, the tree's okay). It's a miracle to get out when they arrive.

Nat's plan was simple: she and Gamora will gang up on the guards and knock them unconscious. Then, they would all sneak into the docking bay and board Peter's ship.

Therefore, they put the plan into effect. Within seconds upon reaching the small structure, Gamora and Nat sneak up behind the guards and kick them square in the back of their heads, watching as their bodies fall limp to the ground.

Peter flinches a little as their bodies hit the pavement. "Ooh, that's gotta hurt." He whispers as Nat grabs a key card from one of the guard's pockets and unlocks the door, following the group inside.

They all scuttle into a confined elevator, uncomfortably close to one another as they ride down to the docking bay. As they exit, they are spotted by two more S.H.I.E.L.D agents, who immediately get swept off their feet, due to Gamora's quick reflexes.

"What does your ship look like?" Shuri asks as they spread out, scanning each of the unique aircraft.

"It's the Milano-the blue and orange M-ship."

"The Milano?" Nat asks with a raised eyebrow. "Like the cookies?"

"No, Alyssa Milano, duh!" Nat pinches the bridge of her nose.

Gamora crosses her arms and glares at Peter. "So, who's this 'Marissa Milano'?" She asks skeptically. Of course, it wasn't out of _jealousy_. Gamora wasn't the type to be 'jealous'.

The boy gives her a small smirk, notching the hint of jealousy in her brown eyes. " _Alyssa_ Milano." He corrects.

"Whatever."

"She's an actress. I had a huge crush on her when I was a kid."

"You're still a kid." She points out, glaring at him more intensely.

"No reason to be jealous."

"I'm _not_ jealous."

"Okay."

"Can you makeout later, Lovebirds? We found your ship." Rocket announces, rolling his eyes.

"This is your ship?" Peter nods his head proudly. "No offense, but it looks like a piece of shit."

"Wow. Thanks Nat." Just then the alarms start blaring, meaning that somebody spotted them. "Hurry! Get on the ship!" Peter yells over the alarms as he lowers the ramp. Groot, Rocket, and Drax quickly obey, the original four staying behind for a moment longer.

"Go." Shuri says, gesturing to the ship with her head. "We will stay behind and cover you."

"Thank you." Gamora wraps her arms around their necks as Peter makes his way up the ramp, not completely entering the ship until Gamora follows him. The ramp closes behind them as Nat and Shuri start running for the exit.

They arrive at the temple on Morag, only to find out that Ronan's right hand beats them there. Luckily, it seems as if they haven't exited their ship yet.

Gamora whips her head around to the group. "Korath is here."

"Lemme guess? Ronan's henchman?" Rocket asks, crossing his arms.

"You could say that."

Peter eyes Gamora again as if they read each other's minds. "Okay." He says, staring her in the eyes a moment longer before focusing on the rest of the group. "Here's the plan: Gamora and I will break into the temple and steal the orb. Drax, you'll follow and cover us. Rocket. Groot. You two will stay here, protect the ship, and get ready to take off as soon as we get back. Got it?" Everyone nods. "Good. Let's go!"

* * *

It's eerily easy to obtain it, only requiring the use of a gravity mine. However, there's never any sign of Korath or his Sakaaran soldiers. That's what puts Gamora on edge. "Peter, something isn't right." She states, reaching for her Godslayer.

"Okay, well, let's go!" He begins to walk out of the temple bumping into a Sakaaran soldier. "Oh, shit."

"Drop it!" A deep voice booms as a man, who looks partially like an android, enters.

"He will do no such thing, Korath!" Gamora spits through her teeth, extracting her sword and charging towards the man with a loud war cry. Drax follows suit with his daggers. "DRAX! PETER! GET TO THE SHIP!" Drax jabs one of his daggers into one last soldier and obeys almost immediately. "PETER!"

"NO! I'M NOT LEAVING YOU!" Peter shoots another Sakaaran that had entered the temple.

"GO, PETER!"

Peter hesitates. "Shit." He mutters under his breath, shooting one last soldier before bolting to the ship. With one last cry, Gamora drives her sword into Korath's abdomen, immediately following Peter. The boy pulls out another gravity mine, throwing it at the Sakaaran soldiers running after them. Gamora ducks and rolls her eyes as Peter yells back an apology. As soon as they have boarded the ship, Rocket turns on the thrusters and flies them to safety.

* * *

After the coast is clear, Peter meets Gamora on the lower deck. She watches as he places a small box into a weird contraption built into the Milano.

"What is that?" Gamora asks in curiosity with pursed lips.

"It's called a cassette. It plays music, see?" Peter presses a button and turns a dial as music begins to fill the ship. A huge grin creeps onto his face once he notices the corners of the green girl's lips twitching up. It only grows when she begins to subconsciously bob her head to the beat.

"What?"

It doesn't take long before Peter realizes he's staring. "Nothing." He scratches the back of his neck. "Um...just-do you trust them?"

"The only one I trust in this ship, is you."

Peter glances up at the stairs leading to the cockpit before focusing back on Gamora. "How much you wanna bet they'll ditch us after we receive the payment?" He asks almost inaudibly.

"As long as they don't give us a reason to be suspicious, we shouldn't worry too much about it."

"So, we're partners then?" Peter closes the distance between them.

Gamora crosses her arms and stares up at him. "We had an agreement, but I would never be partners."

"Does that include me?"

The green girl leans in as if to kiss him. She pauses, lips only millimeters away from his. "Especially you, Peter Quill."

He feels her breath against his lips and opens his eyes to see that she had snuck away before they could kiss. A slight chuckle escapes from him as he turns around to see her walking up the stairs with an extra sway to her hips _._ "Oh, it's _on_."

* * *

Knowhere is practically a place for outlaws, or so Gamora says. It's a grungy place and highly polluted. The streets are packed with aliens of all species, most of them looking homeless, mean, and dirty. They pass a building with a colorfully lit-up sign as a bouncer throws a patron out.

"The buyer's in there?" Peter asks staring as the patron slowly gets up.

"He told me we have to wait for his representative or whatever." Rocket explains as they continue walking.

"This is no respectable establishment. What do you expect us to do while we wait?" Drax asks with a hint of a pout.

"The museum _is_ inside of a bar." Rocket states, stopping in his tracks and turning towards the group.

"There's no way they're going to allow us to drink. We're underage."

The raccoon bats a paw at her. " _Psh_! They don't care as long as they get units." He starts walking back to the bar with Groot following closely behind.

Drax shrugs and follows suit, leaving Gamora and Peter alone. "I'm gonna fill up the Milano. You coming?"

A sigh escapes the Zen-Whoberian's mouth. "I would, but I still don't completely trust those three. I'll keep an eye on them and meet you inside." Peter nods and plants a quick kiss to her temple before walking back in the direction of the Milano.

* * *

It's barely half an hour when Peter returns to the bar, finding her out on the balcony as she cleans her sword. He walks out casually and stands next to her. "Man, you wouldn't believe what they charge for fuel out here. I might actually lose money on this job."

"Doesn't surprise me." Gamora says dryly. "They're making us wait." She sheathes her sword and turns towards Peter with a perturbed expression. "Why did we agree to this, Peter?"

"You wanna escape from Thanos. I wanna escape from Yondu. We're gonna want to leave the academy eventually." He takes a deep breath and sets his forearms on the top of the balcony railing, leaning against it. "I also thought maybe we could leave together." He mutters it under his breath, hoping Gamora would hear it as much as he didn't want her to. He stares out into the void and snaps out of his thoughts as a green hand is gently placed on top of his. Turning his head slowly, he realizes that Gamora is gazing at him with a soft smile upon her lips.

"I-" She was cut off by the sound of a rousing bar fight, involving Rocket, Groot and Drax.

" _Oh no_." Peter moans, walking past Gamora and entering the bar. She follows suit, noticing Drax being strangled by Groot.

The muscular teen rips himself free of Groot's vines as Rocket powers up his gun. Before he can go after Groot again, Gamora pulls him up by his arm. "STOP IT!"

However, it doesn't stop Rocket from aiming his weapon at Drax. Peter steps in with a defensive hand, blocking his view. "WOAH, WOAH, WOAH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"THIS VERMIN SPEAKS OF AFFAIRS HE KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT!" Drax yells trying to push out of Gamora's grasp to get to Rocket.

"THAT IS TRUE!"

"HE HAS NO RESPECT!"

"THAT IS _ALSO_ TRUE!"

"HOLD ON! HOLD ON!" Peter steps closer to Rocket as he starts to aim his gun again.

"KEEP CALLING ME VERMIN, TOUGH GUY! YOU JUST WANNA LAUGH AT ME LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!"

"Rocket, you're drunk, alright? Nobody's laughing at you." The Terran does his best to calm the raccoon down, but the small creature continues.

"HE THINKS I'M SOME STUPID THING! HE DOES! WELL, I DIDN'T ASK TO GET MADE! I DIDN'T ASK TO BE TORN APART, AND PUT BACK TOGETHER, OVER AND OVER AND TURNED INTO SOME...some little monster-"

"Rocket, no one's callin' you a monster."

"HE CALLED ME VERMIN! SHE CALLED ME RODENT!" He screams, pointing to Drax and Gamora respectively. "Let's see if you can laugh after five or six good shots to your FRICKIN' FACE!" Rocket starts firing up his weapon again, causing Drax to try to go after him again.

"NO, NO, NO, NO! FOUR BILLION UNITS! ROCKET! Come on, man. Hey! Suck it up for one more lousy night and you're rich."

The raccoon hesitates for a moment, finally lowering his weapon with a sigh. "Fine." He says with a slight crack in his voice. "But I can't promise when all this is over I'm not gonna kill every last one of you jerks."

Peter rubs his temple until he hears the last part of the sentence and throws an accusing hand in his direction. "SEE! THAT'S EXACTLY WHY YOU THREE DON'T HAVE ANY FRIENDS!" He looks around at the other two, finally giving Gamora a sympathetic glance. "Five seconds after you meet somebody, you're already trying to kill them!"

"We have traveled halfway across the quadrant, and Ronan is no closer to being dead." Gamora pushes him away as he pulls out of her grasp.

"Drax!" Peter calls, watching as the musclebound teen walks away in anger.

"Let him go." Gamora says, placing a gentle hand on his arm, not taking her eyes off of the direction in which Drax was headed. "We don't need him."

"The beings they call Rocket and Groot," A pink Krylorian calls from a doorway near them. "I'm here to fetch you for my master!"


	9. When Things Turn Out Bad

"Breaking into S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, using a ship without permission, traveling to another planet without permission, knocking TEN S.H.I.E.L.D. AGENTS UNCONSCIOUS! What were you thinking?!"

Nat and Shuri cower their heads as the director scolds them. They were caught by Fury himself not too long after the rest of the group made their escape. Now, they are stuck in his office, getting a lecture about how reckless their actions were.

"We were thinking that Peter and Gamora are our friends and they needed our help. So, we helped them." Nat explains in a soft, intimated voice that was almost too uncharacteristic for her.

Fury pinches the bridge of his nose and scoffs. "You _weren't_ helping them, Romanoff. They're in space, alone. The world is a dangerous place as it is and you snuck them aboard on a ship to let them roam free in the galaxy?!"

"Director, with all due respect, they know what they're doing-"

"IT'S NOT GAMORA AND QUILL I'M WORRIED ABOUT!" The director lets out a loud sigh and stands up from his desk. "The other three is a different story. Gamora and Quill have matured exponentially since they enrolled here. Drax, Rocket, and Groot on the other hand-they are still the same selfish kids that enrolled here, two months ago. They're the ones who are gonna get Gamora and Quill killed."

Shuri finally steps up, in an attempt to persuade him. "You do not know that, Director-"

"ENOUGH!" Fury shouts, causing the two girls to cower their heads again. "Both of you have three weeks of detention, including fifteen hours of community service due by the end of that time."

"What about the others?" Shuri's voice was barely audible.

"I will deal with them when we find em'."

* * *

 _So..._ they're pretty much screwed at the moment. Sure, the Collector was pretty creepy and his odd obsession with Rocket and Groot was disturbing, but it seemed harmless. They were wrong. The orb turned out to be an infinity stone, remnants of six singularities that were forged into concentrated ingots after the universe exploded into existence. The small tale didn't phase Rocket as he continued to urge the creepy man to pay them. It wasn't until Carina, the Collector's servant, grabbed the infinity stone to escape from his control, causing the entire building to explode.

Now, here they were, covered in soot and ash and debris from the building. Peter and Gamora untangle themselves from each other after the explosions stop. Gamora is the first, however, to get up. She speed-walks to the orb and closes it, exiting the building with Peter trailing closely behind.

"How could we think Tivan could contain whatever was within the Orb?"

"WHAT DO YOU STILL HAVE IT FOR?!" Rocket asks in exasperation as he and Groot regroup with them.

"WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO, LEAVE IT IN THERE?!" Peter steps in.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU HAD THAT IN YOUR PURSE!"

"IT'S NOT A PURSE, IT'S A KNAPSACK!"

"We have to bring it to Fury or even the Nova Corps. There's a chance they can contain it."

"Are you kidding me?! Groot and I are wanted by the Nova Corps and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s gonna experiment with it. JUST GIVE IT TO RONAN AND NEBULA!"

"So he can destroy the galaxy?" Peter's face wrinkles in disbelief.

"What are you some saint all of a sudden? What has the galaxy ever done for you? Why would you wanna save it?"

"BECAUSE I'M ONE OF THE IDIOTS WHO LIVES IN IT!"

Gamora desperately grabs ahold of one of the lapels on Peter's maroon jacket. "Peter, listen to me. We cannot allow the stone to fall into Ronan's hands." The soft, brown irises in her eyes, look deeply into the souls of Peter's. He returns the gaze with just as much concern. "We have to go back to your ship, and deliver it to Nova."

"Right, right, okay. You're right."

"You've got to be kidding me! Are you serious right now, Quill?!" Rocket crosses his arms in disbelief.

"Listen, we're leaving. With or without you." Peter slips his hand into Gamora's and starts to guide her to his ship. They stop in their tracks when they notice Drax in front of them, knives unsheathed and prepping for battle.

"Oh no." Gamora mutters under her breath.

"At last!" Drax shouts after letting out a loud, maniacal laugh. "I shall meet my foe and destroy him!"

"YOU CALLED RONAN?!"

As if things could get any worse, Yondu happened to be on Knowhere at the exact same time and place as them. "Quill! Don't you move, boy!" He yells after spotting the ex-Ravanger. Peter and Gamora exchange a quick glance before letting go of each other's hands and running towards a bay of mining pods. "Don't you move!" He repeats, pushing through a crowd of people and running in the direction of Peter.

"Please tell me you know how to work these." Peter makes his way to one of the pods. He faces Gamora as she rips a man away from the pod he was exiting from.

"I'll figure it out." She replies coldly, powering it up.

Nebula figured out Gamora is in one of the pods and begins to chase after her, ordering the Sakaaran soldiers to shoot at her, Rocket, and Peter. They split up, going through obstacles the Sakaarans' pods wouldn't fit in. Rocket and Peter devise a plan to get Gamora and the orb to the Milano safely. One after the other, they took out the soldiers. However, there is too many and Gamora gets trapped.

"Peter, I'm trapped! I can't make it to the Milano. I have to head out." She maneuvers the pod into the Sakaarans' that were trapping her and begins to make her way towards the void of space.

A small rush of panic fills through Peter's veins as he drops the Sakaaran pod he was using for a weapon and begins to follow her. "Wait! These things aren't meant to go out there!"

Nebula trails the tail of Gamora's pod. She fires up the weapon on her pod and begins to aim for Gamora. "You are a disappointment, Sister." The luphomoid says through the coms. "Of all our siblings, I hated you least."

"Nebula, please." Gamora responds, the pleading semblance in her eyes reflecting through the windshield of the pod. "If Ronan gets this stone, he'll kill us all."

 _'Not all. You'll already be dead.'_

Without even a second to process Nebula's words, Gamora's ship is blasted into pieces as her body floats limply in the vast of space. Peter witnesses it in front of his very eyes and freezes in shock. All he can focus on is the ice beginning to form over her. He doesn't even notice Nebula retrieving the orb and taking off. A tear falls from his eye as he realizes he's going to lose another significant person in his life. He can't lose her. He _can't_.

 _'Quill, come on. Her body mods should keep her alive a couple more minutes, but there's nothing we can do for her. These pods aren't meant to be out here. In a second, we're gonna be in the same boat.'_

Rocket begins to head back to Knowhere until he realizes Peter isn't following him. "Quill?"

Peter wipes his eyes and turns on the intercom of his ship to channel Yondu's. "Yondu! Yondu. This is Quill! My coordinates are 227 K324." He can hear Rocket shouting his name through the coms-telling him to stop and warning him that he'll die if he leaves his pod. However, his mind is focused on one thing and one thing only. "Just outside Knowhere. If you're there, come get me. I'm all yours." With that, he turns the intercom off and activates his mask. He opens the door to his pod and exits, using his jet boots to float to Gamora and sweeping her up into his arms.

The desperate cries of Rocket's voice stops when he takes a deep breath, removes his mask, and activates it on Gamora. When he hears her gasp for breath, taking in the oxygen in the mask, the weight pushing on his chest is finally lifted. Within seconds, Yondu finds him and beams them inside the ship.

* * *

As the airlock opens, Peter is tossed on top of Gamora. They both gasp for air, trying to catch their breaths. Peter pushes himself off of her, cupping her cheek in his hand as he watches her cough. She grabs onto the lapels of his jacket and catches his gaze. "Peter?" Her grip tightens on his jacket.

"You're okay."

The events that happened right before they were beamed in, flash right before her eyes as she remembers everything. Instead of receiving a relieved hug or kiss, Peter is greeted with weak slaps to his chest. "You're such an idiot! You could've died!" Too exhausted to do anything more, Gamora gives up on hitting him and falls limp to the metal floor. "Why would you do that, Peter? Why?" She chokes, tears welling up in her eyes.

Peter wipes away the single tear that trails down her cheek. "Because you're my best friend," His voice is low and it's almost inaudible. "And I couldn't live the rest of my life, knowing that you died when I could've saved you." Gamora closes her eyes, allowing another tear to fall as Peter leans in to kiss her.

"Welcome home, Peter." They both turn to Kraglin with red-rimmed eyes as they're greeted with hundreds of weapons aimed at them.


	10. Jig is Up, News is Out (They Found Me)

"YOU BETRAYED ME! STEAL MY MONEY!" Yondu screams in Peter's face as he continuously punches him in the gut. The boy is pinned up against a wall by two Ravangers.

Gamora is being held back as well, struggling to break free and protect Peter. "STOP IT!" She cries out as the two men tighten their grips on her arms. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

The Centaurian grabs the boy by his jaw and stares him in the eyes. "When I picked you up as a kid, these boys wanted to EAT YOU!" He lets go, but his eyes linger on Peter's. "They ain't never tasted any Terran before. I saved YOUR LIFE!"

The ex-Ravanger breaks, unleashing the rage that was built upside of him, almost breaking free from their grasp. "WILL YOU SHUT UP ABOUT THAT?! GOD!" Pain starts to replace the rage in his eyes. "For years, you've been throwing that in my face, like it's some great thing, NOT EATING ME! NORMAL PEOPLE DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT EATING SOMEONE ELSE! MUCH LESS THAT PERSON HAVE TO BE GRATEFUL FOR IT!" Gamora desperately tries to lunge for Peter, a sympathetic look lingering in her eyes as he continues to speak. "You abducted me, man. You stole me from my home and from my family."

"YOU DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOUR TERRA!" Yondu exclaims, raising a hand as if to hit the poor boy again, causing him to flinch. "You're scared because your soft, in here-" The blue-skinned man beats his chest to further convey his message. "HERE! RIGHT HERE!" He grabs Peter by the lapels of his jacket and shoves him against the wall.

"YONDU!" Gamora finally shouts, unable to bear the sight of Peter getting smacked again. "Listen to me. Ronan has something called an infinity stone."

"I know what he's got, girl." Yondu spits, slowing rotating his head to glare at her.

"THEN YOU KNOW WE MUST GET IT BACK!" There's a crack in her voice, a hopeless plead that she rarely uses. "He's gonna use it to wipe out Xandar." The hopelessness of her eyes meet Peter's. She quickly rips her focus back to Yondu. "Billions of people will perish." A slight wave of panic clouds over her as she glances around the group of men, trying to scope at least one who would side with her.

The blue Centaurian slowly cranes his neck to face Peter again. "Is this what she's been filling your head with, boy? _SENTIMENT_?!" The boy's cheek turns a bright red as Yondu's hand makes contact with it. All the Ravangers surround them begin to laugh. "EATING AWAY YOUR BRAIN LIKE MAGGOTS!" His head shakes in disbelief as he pulls back the side of his trench coat, revealing a sharp, red arrow. "That's it." As he begins to whistle, the arrow lunges straight for Peter's throat, causing him to flinch once again as it stops right before making contact.

"NO!" Gamora yells, tugging away harder from the men confining her.

"Sorry, boy. But a captain's gotta teach his men what happens to those what cross him."

"Captain's gotta teach stuff!" Kraglin, a boy who looks somewhat Terran and a few years older than Peter, shouts as the rest of the men begin to grunt in agreement. Yondu turns around and begins to purse his lips as if to whistle.

"If you kill me now," Peter breathes. "You are saying goodbye to the biggest score you have ever seen."

A simper grows on the Captain's face as he turns to face Peter. "The stone? I hope you got something better than that. Because ain't nobody stealing from Ronan."

"We got a ringer."

"Is that right?"

Peter gives Gamora a look that tells her to play along. "She knows everything there is to know about Ronan. His ships. His army."

"He's vulnerable." Gamora adds on, looking at Yondu one last time before meeting Peter's eyes.

"Hey, what do you say, Yondu, huh? Me and you, taking down a mark, side-by-side, like the old days."

There's an eerie silence in the room, followed by the sharp pitch of Yondu's whistle. Gamora and Peter squeeze their eyes shut, expecting the worst. The ex-Ravanger quickly opens his, once he realizes that the arrow hadn't pierced through his throat. Yondu and his men begin to laugh as Gamora hesitantly blinks her eyes open. Peter joins in, laughing more in relief than humor.

"Let him go!" Yondu exclaims as his two men release Peter. "You always did have a scrote, boy!"

Gamora finally manages to rip out of the grasps of the two men holding her. She lets out an irritated grunt, watching as Peter is welcomed back into the Ravanger faction. Just then, the ship gets struck by something and begins to shake.

* * *

Lo and behold, it was the raccoon, tree, and maniac. After reasoning with trio that blowing up the ship that they were on wasn't considered rescuing them, Peter manages to convince the group to stand by him and Gamora to take down Ronan. They come up with a plan and explain it to Yondu and the other Ravangers. Once the coordinates for Xandar are set and Yondu gives Peter a warning about double-crossing him, he's finally left alone with Gamora.

He walks into her temporary quarters, unaware that she was getting dressed, and quickly turns away with a beat red face, once he notices she's only in undergarments and runs a nervous hand through his hair. A part of him is curious to see what she looks like without her clothes on, but he has too much respect to violate her like that.

"Peter?" The quietness of her voice is almost soothing, yet it makes him jump out of his skin, pulling him from his embarrassing, filthy thoughts. "What are you doing here?"

"Are you...good? Like, can I turn around?"

Peter can practically hear her eyes roll. "Yes, you can turn around." He does so and notices that she's still topless, in her black bra, pulling on a maroon leather jacket. The boy doesn't mean to stare, but he can't take his eyes off of her. There's silver scars tracing her rib cage and the outer part of her abdominal muscles. They're identical to the ones on her face. "What? Have you never seen a bra before?"

"I mean, yeah, I just-I never,uh, I've never have seen-"

"You've never seen _me_ in a bra before."

The Terran clears his throat as his eyes shift back to her scars. "God, what'd he do to you, G?" The girl bites her bottom lip as her body tenses. "Shit, I shouldn't have-"

"No. We've known each other for a while now. You deserve to know." The Zen-Whoberian grabs his hands and places them upon the scars on her face. His eyes finally meet hers. "Intellect and sight mods." Peter tenses the slightest bit as she slides his hands down to the scars on her mid-section. "Immunization and recovery mods." The girl takes a deep breath before letting go of Peter's hands to take her pants off, revealing more silver scars that outlines parts of her quadriceps and gastrocnemius muscles. She lowers herself onto her knees, bringing Peter with her. Finally, she grabs his hands once again and places them over the scars on her thighs. "Endurance and agility mods."

Brown eyes return to hazel as Peter begins to thumb the scars beneath his hands. The boy shakes his head and pulls the girl into his embrace. He holds onto her as if she'll disappear at any given moment.

After a few minutes in each other's embrace, Peter pulls away noticing the tears falling from her eyes. He lifts his hands to her face and wipes away her tears. The ex-assassin leans into him and presses her lips to his.

A loud pounding on the door makes the two jump. _"PETE, YA' BETTER NOT BE SCREWIN' AROUND WIT'CHA LADY FRIEND IN THERE! WE'RE T-MINUS FIVE AWAY FROM XANDAR. HURRY UP AND GET'CHA ASSES OUT 'ERE!"_

Peter rolls his eyes at Yondu's loud voice. "Get dressed." He whispers to Gamora, his fingers lingering over the scars on her cheeks as he plants one more kiss to her lips. "I'll meet you in the cockpit of the Milano."

* * *

The group of teens and the Ravangers put their plan into effect. Like every battle, they lose various colleagues, including Groot, who sacrifices himself for his friends. Gamora loses Nebula, not to death, but to the Luphomoid's own mind. In other words, she escapes. Now, they're about to be defeated by the person they were supposed to stop.

The Dark Aster has crashed and the rest of the teens are scattered throughout the debris, Peter's tape deck, surprisingly still working and playing music. They look up at Ronan as he wields the infinity stone in his Cosmi-Rod. The Xandarians who have encircled the ship, cower in fear as Ronan appears from a cloud of dust.

"BEHOLD!" He shouts, gesturing towards the group of teenagers. "You're guardians of the galaxy. What fruit have they wrought? Only that my father and his father shall finally know vengeance. People of Xandar, the time has come to rejoice and renounce your paltry gods! Your salvation is at hand."

As the Kree continues to blabber, Peter and Gamora share a look as if it'll be their last. They couldn't think that way, so they rip their eyes off each other and ignore the throbbing pain running through their bodies as they slowly get to their feet. Suddenly, Peter hears the faint melody of "Ooh Child" coming from his tape deck. He hatches an idea.

Ronan lifts his Cosmi-Rod above his head, ready to destroy Xandar once and for all...but Peter distracts him, singing along to the music playing softly in the background. He looks at the boy in confusion.

"Now, listen to these words: _Ooh-oo child, things are gonna get easier. Ooh-oo child, things'll get brighter._ Then, you gotta bring it down hard!" Peter begins to do the running man as Ronan lowers his war hammer.

"What are you doing?" Peter smirks a little. _It's working_.

"Dance off, Bro. Me and you!" He continues to dance before reaching out to his girlfriend. "Gamora-" She thinks about it, but she doesn't know how to dance besides the slow dances Peter has taught her. The ex-assassin shakes her head quickly. "Subtle, take it back."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Ronan's nerves get the best of him as the Terran doesn't stop.

Peter chuckles a little. "I'm distracting ya', you big turd blossom."

Their plan works. Rocket fixes the Hadron Enforcer and blasts the infinity stone out of Ronan's weapon. After that, time seems to slow down. "Peter, no!" Gamora cries out, reaching for her boyfriend as he recklessly catches the stone in his hand.

The boy falls to the ground and shakes violently as the power of the stone rips him apart from the inside out. Tears stream down Gamora's face as the power from the stone creates a powerful wind storm. She grasps onto a piece of the destroyed ship, feeling useless as Peter's painful cries break her heart. The girl squints in his direction, noticing that he levitated into the air. She pushes through the storm, trying to reach him again. "PETER!" She cries. "TAKE MY HAND!"

Peter looks at her with tears in his eyes and grabs her hand. Eventually, the others join them and as the pain gradually decreases. Ronan, confused as to how they aren't dead, asks how a mortal could contain the power. _It's easy,_ Peter thinks. "You said it yourself, bitch. We're the Guardians of the Galaxy." With that, he opens his palm and releases a burst of energy in Ronan's direction, killing him in an instant. Gamora grabs one of the orbs and captures the stone inside of it. The storm diminishes and they no longer feel the power of it. The couple breathes heavily, about to collapse into each other's arms.

"Well, well, well. Quite the light show." _Yondu_. "Ain't this sweet? But you got some business to attend to before all the nookie-nookie starts." The teen hides the orb behind his back.

Gamora, holding her healing ribs, gives Peter a look of desperation. "Peter, you can't." She watches as he shifts his eyes towards Yondu. "Peter-"

"You gotta reconsider this, Yondu. I don't know who you're selling this to, but the only way the universe can survive is if you give it to the Nova Corps." Peter's eyes are just as pleading as Gamora's.

Yondu shows off his arrow like a trophy. "I may be as pretty as an angel, but I sure as hell ain't one. Hand it over, son." Peter shifts his eyes back and forth between Gamora and Yondu, before hesitantly giving the Centaurian the orb. Too bad it was fake...


	11. Home is Whenever I'm With You

"WHAT Y'ALL DID WAS RECKLESS, DANGEROUS, AND STUPID!" Fury yells at the newly renowned Guardians of the Galaxy.

So, here's the gist of what the hell happened...after they defeated Ronan, and parted ways with the Ravangers, Peter immediately handed the _real_ orb over to Nova Prime, who in exchange, sent them to the _finest_ medical center on Xandar to be treated of their wounds.

As soon as everyone was patched up, they headed to Nova Headquarters for a debriefing, where Nova Prime told Peter the truth about his heritage - he was only _half_ Terran. The news didn't surprise him, however, due to the fact that he was able to hold an infinity stone without, well, dying...It wasn't long after that Nova Prime contacted Fury, notifying him that the group of teens were safe in her custody.

Fury arrived two days later, only staying long enough to give Nova Prime his gratitude. Now, here they are - back on Earth, in his office, receiving another lecture.

"Fury, we-"

"SAVE IT, QUILL!" Peter immediately backs down, leaning further back in his chair. Fury takes a deep breath and sits at his desk. "With that being said, y'all did save an entire planet, not to mention, possibly the entire damn universe." The group of teens look at Fury with a hint of hope in their eyes. "Y'all are off the hook this time," The kids let out a sigh of relief. "But! I see any of you taking on a mission this dangerous without permission again, I will not hesitate to give any of y'all the punishment you deserve. Now, get outta my damn office."

As the teens begin to exit Fury's office, Gamora notices the one-eyed man pulling Peter aside and whispering something in his ear. Peter rips out of the man's grasp and meets up with Gamora in the doorway. As soon as the door shuts behind them and they begin to walk, Gamora grabs Peter's arm and pulls him into a nearby supply closet, locking the door behind them.

"Woah, what-"

"What did Fury tell you?" The Zen-Whoberian asks with her arms crossed against her chest and a expression on her face that the half-Terran couldn't seem to read.

Peter is speechless and begins to stutter a bit. "I-I...It was nothing important." Gamora raises an eyebrow, unconvinced. "G, I promise, it's nothing to worry about." The boy places his hands on the girl's shoulders, looking into the souls of her eyes.

Gamora pushes his arms out of her way and turns her back to him. "It didn't seem unimportant. It _seemed_ to piss you off, if anything." Peter lets out an exasperated sigh. "Why won't you tell me?"

"Because, I-I-I can't, Gam."

Red and black tresses whip around to face Peter once again as Gamora stomps the few feet over to him and stands beneath his chin. "Don't start this with me, Peter. Why don't you trust me with whatever Fury told you?"

"It's not about trust, Gamora. Fury just-"

"He just what?"

The hazel color of Peter's eyes shift anywhere in the room besides her. He lets out a frustrated sigh and places his hands on his hips. "He just said some shitty things." This time it's Gamora who lets out a frustrated sigh. Peter finally relaxes and pulls Gamora into his embrace. She slowly returns it and digs her head into his chest. "Listen Babe, I promise, _I promise_ you, it's nothing you need to worry about. It was just a shitty comment he made, that's all."

Even though Peter said it was nothing, Gamora is still bothered by the fact he won't tell her what Fury said. However, at the moment, she's in Peter's arms and that's all that matters to her.

* * *

 _"Now, listen to these words: Ooh-oo child, things are gonna get easier. Ooh-oo child, things'll get brighter. Then, you gotta bring it down hard!" Peter begins to do the running man as Ronan lowers his war hammer._

 _"What are you doing?" Peter smirks a little. It's working._

 _"Dance off, Bro. Me and you!" He continues to dance before reaching out to his girlfriend. "Gamora-" She thinks about it, but she doesn't know how to dance besides the slow dances Peter has taught her. The ex-assassin shakes her head quickly. "Subtle, take it back."_

 _"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Ronan's nerves get the best of him as the Terran doesn't stop._

 _Peter chuckles a little. "I'm distracting ya', you big turd blossom."_

 _Their plan works. Rocket fixes the Hadron Enforcer and blasts the infinity stone out of Ronan's weapon. After that, time seems to slow down. "Peter, no!" Gamora cries out, reaching for her boyfriend as he recklessly catches the stone in his hand._

 _The boy falls to the ground and shakes violently as the power of the stone rips him apart from the inside out. Tears stream down Gamora's face as the power from the stone creates a powerful wind storm. She grasps onto a piece of the destroyed ship, feeling useless as Peter's painful cries break her heart. The girl squints in his direction, noticing that he levitated into the air. She pushes through the storm, trying to reach him again. "PETER!" She cries. "TAKE MY HAND!"_

 _Peter looks at her with tears in his eyes and reaches out to grab her hand...but it's too late. As soon as his hand makes contact with Gamora's, he begins to slowly deteriorate from his hand to his arm to his entire body. "I'm sorry, Babe. I love you." It's the last six words he says before the stone completely consumes him._

Gamora's eyes shoot open as she begins to hyperventilate. Shifting her eyes to look at her surroundings, she notices she's back in her room at the academy. The heavy breathing subsides as she lifts a hand to her face, feeling the trail of tears streaming down her cheeks combined with the perspiration caused from the nightmare...at least she thinks that's what it was. _Oh, God_. She hopes to _God_ it was just a dream.

Her eyes shift to the top of Nat's bunk, noticing that not only was she still sleeping, but Steve had snuck into their room in the middle of the night and fell asleep right next to her. As carefully as she can, Gamora pulls her sweat-filled blanket off of her and swings her bare feet to the cold floor. Like the assassin she is, she soundlessly creeps to the door and quietly pulls it open, wincing at the loud creak it makes. She glances back at Nat and Steve to make sure she hasn't woken them up. A sigh of relief escapes her lips as she continues to exit the room, believing it was best to keep the door cracked to prevent waking the couple.

Just as cautiously, she creeps over to the door of Peter's room and slowly opens the door, wincing once again as it creaks and almost hits the side of Peter's dresser. The fact that none of the students awoke at the noise of the door surprises her. She approaches Peter's bed and carefully sits on the edge of it. Her eyes shift up as she notices the white Freddy Mercury poster beside her. After staring at it for a moment, she shifts her gaze back to Peter, watching as his abdomen rises and falls with each breath. Lying on his back, his left arm is draped across his abdomen, while his right is being used as a pillow and his legs are making the shape of a backwards P.

The Zen-Whoberian shifts closer to the sleeping boy. She brushes back one of the curls covering his forehead and plants a lingering kiss in it's place. The gesture wakes Peter up, but he doesn't seem mad about it. "Gamora?" He asks sleepily, sitting up just enough to be able to see her as he squints. "What's wrong?" A stifled sob escapes the girl's green lips as she throws her arms around Peter and buries her head into his shoulder. Peter slowly wraps his arms around her and rubs his hands around her back. "It's okay, Babe, I'm here. I've got you."

* * *

It's Peter's idea to spend the rest of the night in the lounge area: a fairly small room filled with retro arcade games, a large mounted TV, and a long, Lawson couch that sits underneath the windows that separates the rest of the room from the kitchen. The boy opens the wooden, glass door for Gamora, carrying a large blanket in one hand.

As Gamora approaches the TV to turn it on, Peter sets the blanket across the back of the couch and plops down onto it. After Gamora finds the remote, she turns around to her boyfriend laying across the entire couch. His signature smirk is tugging at his lips as she walks over to him. "Where do you suppose I will sit?" The smirk only grows on his face as he lays on his side and scoots as far back as he can. Gamora playfully rolls her eyes and lays beside him, her back comfortably pressing up against his front.

Peter takes the remote out of her hand and begins to channel surf. He lets out an exasperated sigh when he's unable to find anything to watch. "I forgot...there's nothing good on this early...or this late?" It comes out more of a question. Gamora chuckles a little and retrieves the remote back from him, turning off the TV.

"Why don't we just turn it off then." The Zen-Whoberian sets the remote on the floor and shifts her position to face him. They stay like that for a moment, gazing into each other's eyes. Finally, Gamora decides to press her lips to his. It's gentle and quick, but Peter loves it all the same. She chooses to turn things up a notch and continues to kiss him more passionately. Peter wraps his arms around her and rolls them onto his back. Gamora lets out a yelp in surprise, causing her and Peter to break apart and start laughing.

As their laughter dies down, Gamora sets her chin on top of her crossed arms. Peter's smile fades as he tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. "What was it about?"

"My nightmare?" Her smile fades as well when Peter mouths a _'yeah'_. "We were back on Xandar...fighting Ronan. Everything seemed the same at first, except-" Tears start to well up in her eyes.

"Except what, G?"

"It-it killed you."

Peter swipes the tear that escapes from her eye and pulls her as close to him as she could get. "That's in the past. You'll never lose me, G." He presses a kiss to her temple, before grabbing the blanket off the back of the couch and draping it over them. It isn't long until they both fall asleep in the comfort of each other's arms.


End file.
